


Salvation

by LynyrdLionheart



Category: Psy-Changeling - Nalini Singh, The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-24
Updated: 2016-11-20
Packaged: 2018-05-22 22:40:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 50,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6096274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LynyrdLionheart/pseuds/LynyrdLionheart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Raised to be an Arrow, Caroline was always perfect in her Silence, finding refuge from insanity by feeling nothing.  When Silence fell, she had to find her refuge elsewhere, and that elsewhere was her E, Bonnie Bennet.  When Bonnie goes missing, Caroline is determined to find her one connection to her humanity and bring her home.  Her desperate search takes her to the heart of RiverForest territory, a pack of wolf Changelings known for their hatred of all things Psy.  But when the Alpha, Niklaus, looks at her, Caroline doesn’t feel hated.  No, all she feel is overwhelmed… and like she may have found home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Here it is, my newest fic! It's a crossover with Nalini Singh's Psy/Changeling series, though the characters from that world play a relatively minor role, so knowledge of the novels is not required. If you are reading the books however, I feel like I should let you know that this does have spoilers up until the end of the latest novel, "Shards of Hope." Please enjoy and let me know what you think!

               “Are you okay?”

               Caroline blinked, her eyes still gritty with sleep as Bonnie looked up from her cup of coffee.  She filled another mug and nudged it across the kitchen island.  Caroline hesitated for a moment, still not used to eating anything but the approved energy bars and drinks that the Es all seemed to think were tasteless, but that suited Caroline’s needs for sustenance perfectly well. 

               But Bonnie was smiling at her, the white stars in her black eyes bright with hope, and Caroline found that she had to accept the mug, and take a sip from it.  The coffee was bitter as always, making Caroline wrinkle her nose, but she still took another sip, and Bonnie rolled her eyes with a sigh.

               “You know, if you don’t like the taste, you can add cream and sugar.  I do it all the time.”

               Caroline knew that, having once accepted a taste of what Bonnie called coffee.  To Caroline, it tasted more like pure cream and sugar, with the coffee merely adding a bit of color.  She preferred the bitterness and cradled the mug protectively to her chest when Bonnie reached out to “doctor it” as she was fond of saying.

               “Fine, have your bitter mug of disgustingness,” she said with a fond smile, setting the cream down again.  “I need to meet with Sascha and the other Cardinals.  More E-Cardinal 101.”

               “I’ll take you,” Caroline replied automatically, getting to her feet and dumping the contents of the mug down the sink, ignoring Bonnie’s grumble.

               “Waste of perfectly good caffeine,” she stated as Caroline turned back around.

               “Caffeine makes me jittery anyway,” Caroline defended, and sighed when the defensive tone in her voice had Bonnie smiling proudly, as though Caroline had achieved something great.

               Flawed conditioning wasn’t something to be proud of, not for someone like Caroline.  Aden tried to tell them all that it was okay to feel, that Silence was done… but Silence had been Caroline’s single anchor for far too long for her to simply walk away.  Not when her genes held…

               Thinking of her parents made her emotionally strained, and she began to clear the counters, carefully placing the dishes in the dishwasher, moving the ones Bonnie had already put there, because they needed to be in the right place.  Dishwasher filled, she turned her attention to the counter, digging out the antibacterial spray and a wash cloth to set about making sure the counters were clean.

               “Caroline,” Bonnie said, as Caroline moved around, scrubbing with a fierce determination, and completely ignoring her roommate.  “Caroline!”

               When it was clear that Caroline wasn’t going to reply, Bonnie looked around, her gaze landing on a box of stables she had been using earlier.  Grabbing it, she lofted it at her friend, hitting the blonde squarely between the shoulder blades, making her freeze.  Bonnie swore she could see her vibrating; Caroline’s muscles had gone so tense.

               “Caroline,” Bonnie murmured in a soothing tone, and she reached down the bond that attached them – E-Psy to Psy – and carefully began to unwind the tension, taking it into her own body.  Bonnie knew how to handle the emotions that wracked Caroline, emotions that she tried so desperately to sever herself from.

               After so long feeling like a failure – a Cardinal with no real power – being able to do this, particularly for someone she cared for, made any strain Bonnie might feel more than worth it.

               “I’m okay,” Caroline said at last, her shoulders relaxing as much as Caroline ever relaxed.  Bonnie scowled, because she knew that Caroline _wasn’t_ alright, that the emotions had only been tempered enough to bring the threatening boil back down to a simmer.  Bonnie continued to pull on the tension until Caroline whirled toward her, grasping her hands tightly and meeting Bonnie’s gaze directly.  “Stop it, Bonnie.  _I am okay_.  If you try to take the emotion from me…”

               Caroline reached out, touched the side of Bonnie’s face, and her fingers came away stained with blood.

               “You’re hurting yourself.  Please don’t.  Not for me.”

               “I wouldn’t do it for anyone else but you,” Bonnie replied fiercely, squeezing Caroline’s hands with all the strength she could muster.  It wasn’t enough to make Caroline even flinch, not with her history and training.  “You saved me.  I can never repay you for that.”

               Caroline’s expression softened, a small smile – a rare sight that Bonnie always treasured – curving her lips.  Yes, Caroline had once saved Bonnie, back when they were just starting to help the E-Psys realize their potential, when Vasic and Ivy Jane had come together and started the alliance between the E-designation and the deadly Arrows.  But what Bonnie never acknowledged was that she had done far more for Caroline.  Caroline, who had been walking such a tight line between sanity and loss of it in the aftermath of the fall of Silence.  It had been Bonnie’s presence, that had given her back some semblance of balance.  Bonnie that had given her something to fight for, now that she no longer had Ming Le Bon to follow blindly.

               “I’ll take you to your meeting.  Do you know what time it will be done?”

               “Jamie asked me to meet him after, to catch a movie” – Caroline noted the heightened color and the sparkle in Bonnie’s eyes at the mention of the young leopard changeling that had been sniffing around her.  It hadn’t amounted to anything more than a couple of dates, but Caroline was happy her friend was getting out, experiencing all the emotions an E-Psy should – “I told him I would.”

               “Well, then you should make sure you look nice,” Caroline replied, the part of her that had always liked pretty things looming in the back of her mind.  “You look beautiful in green.”

               “You think so?” Bonnie’s eyes lit up.  “Do you think I could borrow that green cardigan of yours?”

               Hours later, Caroline remembered the enthusiasm in Bonnie’s expression as Caroline lent her the cardigan. Caroline held that cardigan in her hands, though it was torn to shreds and unwearable.  Jamie’s body was slumped against a dumpster, only recognizable because of a ring that Dorian said the boy always wore; otherwise his head had been crushed.

               “A Tk blast.” 

               Caroline said nothing as Judd Lauren stepped up to her side.  He was there on behalf of the SnowDancer wolf pack.  He had also once been a fellow Arrow, though Caroline had been too young to have been close to him.

               Not that Arrows had really been _close_ to each other in general, before Aden changed that.  Made it better.

               “Yes,” Caroline agreed after a moment, when she realized Judd was waiting for a reply.  She clutched the cardigan tighter.  “There should have been a girl with him.  A Psy-”

               “Bonnie Bennett,” Judd interrupted.  He hesitated a moment, and then reached out and patted her shoulder.  The physical contact made Caroline jolt – only Bonnie touched her, in ways that weren’t meant to hurt – and she almost recoiled before she remembered that Judd was a lieutenant of Changeling pack now.  Touch was how they comforted one another.  “She was your E?”

               “Yes,” Caroline replied, wetting her lips with her tongue.  “She’s still alive.  I would know if she wasn’t.”

               “Can you track the bond?” this time it was Lucas Hunter that spoke, the Alpha of the DarkRiver Leopard pack, and mate to Sascha Duncan, the Cardinal E-Psy that was training Bonnie and the others. 

               “I… it’s not like your bond with Sascha, or even the one Vasic and Ivy Jane have,” Caroline’s fingers dug into the cloth of the cardigan, and panic rose like bile in her throat.  “I know she’s alive, I can get a vague sense of direction, but I can’t… I can’t…”

               Lucas growled, but it was Judd that stepped in front of Caroline, resting both hands on her shoulders and making her look him in the eye as her breathing grew erratic.

               “Hey,” said the other Psy, but when Caroline just continued panicking, his tone turned harsher.  “Hey!”

               “I need her,” Caroline choked out, because these emotions… what did she do with these emotions?

               “Breathe with me,” Judd ordered, and he began to take slow, deep breaths.  Caroline managed to copy him after several failed attempts, closing her eyes and tugging on conditioning, wrapping herself in silence until the emotions were just distant echoes.

               “I’m fine,” she said at last.  “I’m okay.”

               “You’re lucky you didn’t lose control of your abilities,” Lucas growled, but Judd made a sharp motion with his hand.  The Alpha muttered but stepped back.

               “I can’t trace her exact location,” Caroline said distantly, watching Lucas retreat.  “But I can follow to a general vicinity.  Aden will let me.  The protection of the Es is important to the Arrows.”

               “Are you sure you’re up to it?  Your Silence is imperfect, and without your E-”

               “A momentary lapse.  I will not allow it to happen again” – her gaze cut to him; saw the minuscule wince he gave  – “how bad is it?  I know I lost control.”

               After a moment of hesitation, Judd pulled his sleeves back, revealing dozens of tiny, precise cuts along his arms.  They were already healing, his Tk-cell powers not allowing the wounds to stay for long.  Caroline gave a sharp nod as the last of them disappeared.

               “I apologize.”

               “Caroline…” Judd trailed off, watching her with worried eyes.  Caroline met his gaze patiently, though there was a pang, something like a prowling beast outside her Silence, that didn’t want to wait.  It wanted Bonnie.  “I didn’t think I would ever be able to break Silence.  But… it _can_ be done.  I’m proof of that.”

               His mate Brenna, who had made Judd smile, who had given hope to those amongst the Arrows that weren’t utterly broken.

               “You had a family to cling to,” Caroline said.  “I did not.  Our situations are not the same.  I am fine as I am Judd.  I allow Bonnie in.  I am… content, with that.”

               She was sure he would have said more, except that one of the DarkRiver Sentinels called for him.  He gave a troubled frown as he joined Dorian, and Caroline closed her eyes when his back was turned, carefully closed the fractures that threatened her Silence.  And then she teleported.

               She had told Judd that Aden would allow her to pursue Bonnie, but she wasn’t so sure of that.  Not when Caroline’s mental state had been in such disrepair.  But no one else had the same bond with Bonnie that Caroline did.

               She was the only one that could find her best friend – the only one she _trusted_ to find her best friend.

               Even if it meant going rogue.


	2. One

“You look like hell.”

               Niklaus bared his teeth at Lorenzo’s blunt statement, but the Lieutenant just chuckled, used to Klaus’ mood swings.  Klaus contemplated punching him; a fight would be a good way to get some of the tension that had been riding him for the past several days out of his system.  But he was the Alpha, which meant that the pack took their cues from him.  He had finally – _finally_ – managed to build the pack’s strength back up to a point where they could rest somewhat easily at night, and he wasn’t going to risk internal fighting just because Enzo was being his usual smug bastard self.

               Besides, Rebekah would never let him hear the end of it if he damaged her mate’s pretty face.

               “I’ve been running patrols,” Klaus replied shortly instead, continuing towards his rooms in the den.  Enzo fell into step with him.

               “I noticed.  You’ve been running them constantly, to the point where I’m rather certain you haven’t been getting any sleep.”

               Klaus gave a curt shrug and ignored Enzo’s sigh.  He knew what point the lieutenant was working toward, but Klaus didn’t particularly want to hear it.  He’d had an itch under his skin for almost a week, and running the patrol routes had been the only thing that seemed to make it feel any better. 

               “Look, Klaus” – Klaus bit back a growl as Enzo grabbed his shoulder and forced him to halt – “I’m not sure what it is that’s riding you, and I know you likely won’t tell me, but while it might be your job to watch over the pack, it’s part of _my_ job to make sure that you don’t kill yourself in the process.  ‘Sides, Bekah would never let me hear the end of it if I let you run yourself into the ground.”

               Klaus really did growl, but it was in frustration rather than anger, and he ran a hand through his hair.

               “I know,” he muttered darkly.  “I just… there’s _something_ that’s under my skin.  Something I need to _find_.  But every time I go on patrol and look…”

               He trailed off with another growl, and Enzo gave his shoulder a pat and opened his mouth to say something more, though Klaus wasn’t to know what it was.

               “We have an intruder on the North perimeter.”

               Klaus jolted at Katherine’s words, as she flung herself around the corner of the den and came up short when she saw them.

               “An intruder?” Enzo demanded, going from easy going to guardian of the pack in a heartbeat, his muscles tensing and eyes growing dark.  “Who?”

               “A Psy.”

               All three of them bared their teeth in growls at the word.  No one in RiverForest would forget what the Psy had done to their pack, how they had attacked and killed so many of their family, including Klaus’ parents and younger brother.

               “How did a Psy manage to get so close?” Klaus demanded, already on the move. 

               “She can teleport.”

               That made Klaus clenched his fists in anger.  Those Psy capable of teleporting were the worst.

               “She’d need a visual,” Enzo shot back.  “How the hell would she get that?  We’ve made sure anyone with visuals this close to our territory are either dead or-”

               “Or Changeling,” Klaus finished, and his mind had already gone to SnowDancer, who had Psy high in their pack rankings, but who RiverForest also had an alliance with.  “The Psy isn’t a Lauren?”

               “No.  If it were Judd, we’d tolerate him.  But she’s an unknown.”

               Katherine’s phone went off, and she looked down at it, her knuckles white as she clutched it.

               “Marcel says that they have her cornered, but she’s already put a lot of our people out.  She’s powerful.”

               “Dead or alive?”

               “They can’t check,” Katherine let out an angry breath and cursed.  “We’ll need Sage.”

               “Get her and follow us,” Klaus replied grimly.  “Enzo and I will go ahead.”

\---

               Caroline took a shaky breath and looked at the Changelings that had cornered her.  She had teleported too many times, didn’t have any more energy left in her.  She’d found refuge in a tree, but she knew it was just a matter of time before they realized where she hid. She needed _rest,_ but it seemed like every time she had found a suitable place to do so, that damn blue eyed wolf would find her… or at least _almost_ find her, and she’d have to teleport again.

               And now she was running low on energy.

               Her powers were meant for attacks that demanded high accuracy, not teleportation or the broad stroke attacks she’d been using against these wolves.  If they didn’t back off, she was going to have to use her powers in the ways that came naturally.

               In the ways that always meant death.

               “You can’t take us all!” called out the Changeling that seemed to be in charge of the group that had surrounded her, a handsome black man who had probably broken numerous hearts.  To Caroline, he was the enemy – the one in the way of finding Bonnie. 

               She pulled out a gun, and turned off the safety.  She had always been an excellent shot, but using the weapon would mean revealing her location.

               Using her powers would mean handing out death.

               Neither situation was ideal.

               She paused when she felt new Changeling minds join the group.  She peeked out of her hiding spot, to see that a blonde man had joined the black man.  She didn’t know all of the RiverForest pack members, but she _did_ recognize this one.

               Klaus – the Alpha.

               And when he turned his eyes to the trees where she hid, there was something familiar about him.  As though she had _seen_ this man before.  She swallowed, and retreated when his gaze seemed to land right on her, though no attack came so it must be the results of an over active imagination.

               Something she had never suffered from in the past.

               “Come out, little Psy!” Klaus called, moving away from the other man.  “Come out and we will make this painless!”

               She considered her next move.  She could kill the Alpha.  She had enough to slice open an artery, to let him bleed out.  She nearly peeked out and did it…

               Only that wasn’t what Arrows did, not anymore.  Aden had made it clear – _they were protectors now_.  And if RiverForest ever found out that it had been Sienna Lauren that had given Caroline the visuals she needed to teleport here?

               Caroline looked down at her arm, at the burn scar that ran over the back of her hand, up to her elbow.  Sienna was a… a _friend_.  That meant Caroline couldn’t betray her trust by assassinating the Alpha.

               But she couldn’t let them catch her either.

               She finally decided to take a calculated risk.  The chances that what she did next would allow her to survive were greater than remaining in her current position, so she pictured a destination – far enough away that the Changelings wouldn’t scent her, not far enough that this last ditch effort would kill her – and then she teleported again.

               She managed to see that she had made it where she aimed, before her vision blurred and she slumped against a tree.

               And then the world went dark.

\---

               The wind blew through Klaus’ fur, and usually the sensation invigorated him.  He loved to run, to move through the territory he had rebuilt with the blood and sweat of his pack, of _himself_ , and know that they had done something _good_.

               But tonight – or rather, _this morning_ – all he felt was frustration.

               There was a Psy in his territory, and they could not find her.

               What was worse, was that her scent had struck him right at the heart of the restlessness that had been haunting him.  All along it had been _her_ , and now the wolf growled and wanted to find her, to see why it was, that every cell in his body tightened because of her.

               Klaus growled and shook his head and took a lesser known path into the forest.

               He had run for another mile when the scent hit him.  The one that belonged to the Psy.  It was cool to his senses, like the air right before a snow storm, but it didn’t have that metallic under scent that the Psy completely gone to Silence had.

               Nearly two decades later, and Klaus still remembered what that metallic tinge was like.  It haunted his dreams, with memories of blood and screaming.

               He growled again, and prowled forward, leaving behind old nightmares.  He took a hesitant step into the clearing, prepared for the Tk attack.  She hadn’t killed any of his soldiers, but she had knocked them out with a precision that Klaus hadn’t realized Tks were capable of.  He wanted to talk to Hawke and his pet Psy about it, but he still wasn’t sure if the other Alpha could be trusted, not when this female had found her way onto his land, when she shouldn’t have had a visual.

               When no blast came, Klaus felt himself tense further.  The girl’s scent danced along his senses, and the wolf growled with pleasure.  It appealed to the very heart of the beast, this scent, and when his eyes landed on her, he couldn’t say he was surprised by the response that it caused.

               _Mine_.

               It was as though the world finally made _sense_ , when he looked at her.  She was dressed in black that clung close to her slim frame, enhancing her pale skin and golden hair.  Klaus moved to her, sniffing around her, and then nuzzled his nose against her throat, breathing in the scent.

               He had always refused to think of mates, and his lack of one.  Even when he watched Enzo and Rebekah, he fought back the jealousy, because he was the Alpha and needed to focus on the pack, and it was good, that there was a powerful mated pair at the top of the hierarchy.

               But now that he saw her?  He knew that life without a mate had been an empty, fleeting thing.

               He nudged her again, and whined, because though he suspected she _was_ naturally pale, this went beyond that.  There was an almost sallow undertone to her skin, and bags under her eyes.  His little mate had worked herself into exhaustion.

               _Worked herself into exhaustion attacking their_ pack _._

Both wolf and man didn’t like that thought. His mate was mean to be loyal to _him_ – his life partner; the one person that would see past the Alpha to the man beneath.  The thought that his might harm the pack he’d dedicated his life to?

               _She’s Psy.  She just needs to learn._

Klaus changed forms, taking on his human form as easily as he had the wolf.  He scooped his mate into his arms, and she turned into his chest, burrowing into him.  He quirked his head at that.  In his experience, Psy abhorred touch, and avoided it at all costs.  Yet the way this one nestled into him, it were as though she _hungered_ for it.

               As though she were touch starved.

               The wolf whined, and Klaus agreed that they would make sure their mate was never touch starved again.  Even if she was a Psy.

               _She just needs to learn_

\---

               Caroline hugged the pillow and buried her face against the soft surface.  Bonnie must have gone shopping again.  She hated flat pillows, and so when she replaced her own – usually after only a couple months of use – she replaced Caroline’s as well.

               _Bonnie was kidnapped_.

               It took a second for the thought to hit Caroline, and then she was out of the foreign bed and in a crouch, her eyes darting around for an attacker.

               The only other person was a lovely red headed woman who held out her hands in what was probably meant to be a soothing manner.

               “Who are you?” Caroline demanded.  She calculated the distance between herself and the woman.  Her mind was blocked to Caroline, and while she wasn’t a powerful telepath, she had enough oomph to know that this woman had to be Changeling.  That meant that a frontal attack was most likely ill advised.  This woman would have a Changeling’s superior speed and strength.

               But Caroline had unadulterated Tk power.

               “I’m Sage,” the woman said when she realized Caroline wasn’t going to go on the attack just yet.  “I’m the Healer for RiverForest.”

               _The Healer_.  Caroline had met other Healers before.  Sienna’s uncle, Walker Lauren, was married to the SnowDancer Healer, a lovely wolf changeling named Lara that reminded Caroline a lot of Bonnie.  They were both gentle souls, with wills of iron when it came to their loved ones.

               This Sage didn’t seem like a gentle soul – there was something wild about her – but Caroline suspected she had the iron will down.

               “Where am I?” Caroline asked, carefully forcing her muscles to relax.  She needed to appear as though she held no threat.  Changelings could get protective, if they thought their home was in danger, and a protective Changeling would never let her guard down.

               “Klaus brought you to our den,” Sage replied, a coolness entering her voice that told Caroline exactly what Sage thought of Klaus’ actions.  But Sage _had_ to be referring to the pack Alpha, which meant that even if Sage didn’t agree, she would ultimately bow in respect to her pack leader.

               “I’m to be executed, then,” Caroline said, her jaw tightening.  Why else would she have been brought here, to the very heart of the pack?  Caroline had read the files Sienna had given her very carefully.  She knew this pack had been attacked by Psy once – Caroline suspected there must have even been Arrows in the group that did so, so perfectly was the attack planned – and their motto was to kill any Psy intruders on sight.

               Caroline didn’t know why she had been brought here instead, but she could only imagine it would ultimately involve her death. 

               She couldn’t allow that.

               But she still hadn’t recovered from her burn out.  The powerful inferno that usually made up her ability was little more than a flickering flame.  She could kill the woman in front of her with a quick strike, but teleportation was strictly off the list of options.

               “You’re not going to get executed,” Sage assured her, her eyes softening as she took a step closer to Caroline.  She had seen that expression before, on the DarkRiver Healer, Tamsyn, when one of the lower level soldiers did something foolish.  Perhaps it was a requirement of being a Healer, that you felt for others so keenly.  Caroline couldn’t see it being a comfortable state of being.

               “RiverForest hates the Psy,” Caroline replied flatly, her hands clenching into fists at her side.  Sage watched her warily, but her hands twitched as well, as though it were killing her to not be able to reach out and touch Caroline.  She probably thought she could soothe her, a though that, had Bonnie been there, Caroline might have found amusing.  “I hardly came into the territory unprepared.”

               “They said that they had you cornered, before Klaus found you.  They’re fine, you know, the soldiers you attacked.”

               There was a coolness to Sage’s tone when she said that, and it made Caroline’s brow furrow.

               “Of course they were fine,” she replied.  “I wasn’t attacking to do lasting harm.”

               Sage gave her a look of surprise that quickly turned into narrow eyed contemplation, but Caroline ignored it in favor of taking in her surroundings.  This Wolf pack must have made their home in a series of caves, much as SnowDancer had. 

               “I need to go,” Caroline said at last, turning a sharp gaze to the Healer.

               “I can’t let you walk out of here,” Sage replied, her muscles tensing as she watched Caroline wit eyes more wolf than human.  “The Alpha brought you in; the Alpha will make the decision on when you go.”

               _If you go_ fell unspoken between them.  RiverForest _hated_ Psy, and here Caroline was, a Psy in the center of their haven.  Chances of a regular member of Caroline’s species walking out of this place alive were just greater than fifty percent.  A quick calculation told Caroline that one of her caliber – an Arrow and a trained assassin – dropped those chances down to somewhere around thirty.

               Even if RiverForest were unaware of what an Arrow was exactly, the unconscious Changelings she had left would tell them that she had a high level of control over her abilities that made her dangerous.

               Sage kept one eye on Caroline as she worked at setting up a tray of medical equipment.  Caroline carefully sat on the edge of her bed and watched the other woman carefully.

               “What is that for?” the question fell from her lips almost unwillingly, an odd experience for Caroline.  She wasn’t curious; no Psy was curious.  Curiosity was considered a weakness, almost like emotion.

               “A pair of adolescents got into a scrap,” Sage replied slowly, as though trying to guess what Caroline was up to.  When Caroline made no move and simply continued to watch her, the red head began to relax somewhat.  “I’ll mend them up, but make them heal on their own.  It teaches them to control themselves.”

               Caroline quirked her head and supposed that made sense.  As a trainee, she’d been programmed with specific protocol that caused dissonance when she felt emotion, or if her powers threatened to lash out.  The dissonance was still there, though Aden, Vasic, and Judd had been teaching them all how to use it for safety rather than control.  Bonnie had been after her to go to one of the lessons, so that she could be free to have a life of emotion, but Caroline had been avoiding it.

               She heard the sound of voices in the hall, and one of them – accented and rough, though she couldn’t make out the words, sent a shiver down her spine.

               _Fear_ , she thought wildly.  It had to be fear, for her to have this sudden awareness.  She wished Bonnie was there; Bonnie could tell her what these things she was feeling were.

               It was that awareness that made her act, lashing out with still recovering powers.  But it was enough to take Sage off guard, and when the door burst open, the Healer held very still, a scalpel held in a steady grip at her throat.

               Klaus, Enzo and Katherine had been coming to the infirmary to check on the Psy patient, Katherine demanding to know why he hadn’t killed her, when they heard Sage’s alarmed cry.  It had been instinct for all three, to burst in and protect what some might call their most valuable pack member.

               Klaus came up short, getting his first look at his little mate awake and alert, and holding a scalpel to Sage’s neck.

               “Take another step,” she said, her voice cold and flat, as were her eyes.  “And I will kill her.”


	3. Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank-you to everyone who read the first chapter! There was some confusion as to some terms from the Psy/Changeling verse, so I created a glossary that can be found here: http:// lynyrdwrites . tumblr . com/post/139947034418/glossary-for-salvation. Please enjoy the new chapter!

Of the three, the woman was clearly the one most likely to go for her throat.  It was with that thought in mind that Caroline subtly moved herself and the Healer, so that the dark haired woman would have to go through Sage to get to her Psy captor.

               “Easy, Love,” said the middle man, the Alpha once more.  Caroline fought back a shiver.  His was the accented voice that had set her so on guard.  “We don’t want to hurt you.”

               “RiverForest hates Psy,” Caroline replied flatly.  “Nineteen years ago your pack was attacked and decimated by a Psy group that was never found and never punished.  The pack swore that they would kill any and all Psy that entered their land.  As of my most recent data, exactly twenty-five Psy bodies have never been found, and the last time their presence was sensed on the ‘Net was in this area.”

               Cold facts recited as though from a textbook, which they practically were.  As Caroline had told Sage, she had come into this territory well prepared, and that included with knowledge.  She knew the pack’s history nearly as well as her own.

               “Then I guess you’re stupid,” the dark haired woman growled.  “If you knew all that and came anyway.”

               “My E was last sensed in this area” – Bonnie _was_ in this territory.  Somewhere, Caroline _knew_ it, with the certainty that she knew her hair was blonde, and that she could kill the woman she still held still with a scalpel – “I made the decision to enter and find her.  I have no interest in involving myself with your pack.  Let me leave, and no one will get hurt.”

               “Easy, Kat,” the dark haired man on the other side of the Alpha murmured.  Caroline knew him too; Lorenzo, the Alpha’s second in command Lieutenant.  He looked at Caroline, and though he smiled, there was an icy glaze in his eyes.  “Put down the scalpel and we can discuss this, Gorgeous.”

               “My calculations put my chances of survival at approximately six point seven percent if I release Sage,” Caroline replied after a quick moment of thought. “It increases to twenty point four if I’m willing to use lethal force, but then my chances of leaving the den alive all but disappear.  I’ll keep my leverage.”

               “No one is killing anyone,” Klaus cut in, his tone broking no argument.  “Put down the scalpel, Love.”

               “I just explained why that won’t happen,” Caroline replied, furrowing her brow in frustration.  She never understood this habit of Changelings, to repeat their wishes as though that would somehow gain them what they wanted.  Sienna had fallen into the habit as well since mating Hawke, something Caroline had pointed out to her on many occasions.

               _You’ll understand, someday_ , had been the redheaded Psy’s response.

               Caroline doubted it, but it hadn’t seemed particularly expedient to argue, particularly not when Sienna had been wearing the dreamy, secretive smile that meant she was thinking of her mate.

               “Then I suppose we’re at an impasse,” Klaus mused, taking a step forward that made Caroline tighten her grip on Sage.  Klaus froze, his eyes flashing brighter, a sure sign that his wolf hovered just beneath the skin of his human form. “I cannot let you go.”

               They didn’t need to be.  Caroline had been cloaking her presence on the Net, but she could open herself up, call out to Vasic.  He could be there in a second, have her out of there in another.

               And she would lose her chance to save Bonnie.  Elijah had made that very clear, when he had gotten her the supplies she would need, so Aden wouldn’t be suspicious.

               _Once you’re there, you’re on your own.  Aden will not,_ cannot _, approve of this._

_Why are you helping me then_? Another annoying moment of curiosity, but she’d asked anyway.

               _You… love her.  It is important, I believe.  Love._

Elijah hadn’t experienced the emotion, Caroline knew.  Bonnie was also his E, but it was a bond formed because Elijah trusted Caroline, and knew that Caroline trusted the E with her life.  Like her, he hadn’t yet reprogrammed his dissonance.  Caroline doubted he ever would.

               Elijah had always been so _distant_ , even for an Arrow.

               But his words still echoed in her brain – and Caroline knew that she couldn’t drop her guards and reach out for help.  She _needed_ to be here.  _Needed_ to save Bonnie.

               “I guess we are,” Caroline finally said, her words coming out slowly.  _I cannot let you go_ he had said, and that seemed an odd choice of words. 

               As Alpha, he should be able to do whatever he wished.

               “She said I wasn’t supposed to be executed,” Caroline finally said, ducking her chin toward Sage.  “I give you my word that I mean your pack no harm.  Let me walk; you’re the Alpha, you can do that.”

               “ _I mean your pack no harm_ ,” sneered the dark haired woman.  “She says as she holds a scalpel at our Healer’s _throat_.”

               “Katherine, be _silent_ ,” Klaus snapped, and he took another step.  Caroline’s eyes flashed to the metal instruments that had fallen to the floor when she had grabbed Sage, and with a thought, she sent a small pair of scissors hurtling at Klaus to stop his forward movement. 

               It should have been easy for him to knock them out of the air before they made contact, but instead he let them bury in his shoulder and just continued his forward prowling.  The look in his eyes still burned, and it made Caroline’s stomach feel odd.

               As though there were butterflies fluttering within.

               She had seen that look before.  In Hawke’s gaze, when Sienna laughed – as though he would never grow tired of the sound.  She had seen it too, in Judd’s eyes, when Caroline asked after Brenna out of politeness, and his response was always _good_ , but she could always tell that his thoughts had gone to his mate because of that look.

               And Klaus was aiming it at Caroline.

               Caroline didn’t feel.  She was cut off to emotion, except for those inspired by Bonnie, but after so much time with Changelings and Psy that had broken Silence; she had learned that emotions could be _used_.

               It was a gamble… and Caroline couldn’t be sure what she thought was true.  If she was wrong, this would probably mean her death.  But Klaus continued moving forward, and Caroline didn’t wish to kill the Healer.

               She released her hold on Sage, and the woman’s forward stumbling made Klaus pause in prowling, so he could straighten her.  Then he looked back at Caroline, the pleasure of the hunt written on his face.

               That expression fell when he saw that she held the scalpel to her own throat.  Caroline knew the humanoid body better than anyone, probably even the M-Psy, and she knew that the lightest pressure of the scalpel would mean she bled out.  The way the color bled from Klaus’ face said he knew the same.  It also told her that her gamble was right.

               Niklaus, alpha of RiverForest, believed that Caroline Forbes was his mate.

\---

               Fear was an insidious bile that tightened his throat and clutched Klaus’ heart with ragged claws.  His little Psy stood just feet from him, but she might as well be miles away, with the blade held to her throat with a steady hand, no emotion in her eye to let him know if this were just a gamble, or if she would actually use that scalpel to end her own life.

               “What the hell?” Katherine demanded incredulously, and she moved toward the Psy.  Klaus reached out, stopping her with an arm and snarling at her.  She looked at him with wide, surprised eyes.

               “Klaus, why are you-” Klaus turned his wild gaze to Enzo who immediately stopped talking to survey him, and then, “oh, bloody hell” – he looked at Psy, who still held the scalpel, her expression cold – “she’s your _mate_?”

               Katherine jolted on Klaus’ other side, but Klaus ignored both of them to look at the blonde.

               “Put it down, Love.  You heard Enzo.  What you are… I cannot hurt you.”

               “And will you let me leave?” Klaus remained silent at the question, and the Psy let out the smallest of huffs, so quiet Klaus thought he might have imagined it.  “Then I guess we’ll negotiate.  You let me leave, or I never leave… and you never get a mate.”

               The words made Klaus jolt.  He knew that it wasn’t entirely true – Hawke Snow had found a second chance at having a mate, after all.  But that was the first time Klaus had ever heard of such a thing occurring, and he wasn’t willing to take the chance that he would get the same opportunity.

               Not when _this_ mate was a slim, beautiful creature with nerves of steel, holding a scalpel to her own delicate skin.

               “I’ll send out my people to find your friend,” he promised at last.  Of course, his people might kill the girl… but surely his mate need never know that?

               “Not good enough,” she replied simply.  “Not when the remains of my people are scattered across your lands as a testament to your hatred.  I won’t let you kill Bonnie.”

               Klaus took a step forward and came up short when she adjusted the scalpel, dug it in just deep enough that blood welled and a drop slid down her neck, soaking into the neck of her dark t-shirt. 

               “Hardcore,” Katherine murmured low, and Klaus thought there might be a hint of respect in her voice.  Part of him agreed, but the larger part wanted to rage, hated that she was hurt, even by her own hand.  His wolf whined and scratched beneath his skin.  It wanted to save their little mate, wanted her to stroke them and realize that this _Bonnie_ didn’t matter.  No, all that mattered was _them_.

               “I’m walking out of here,” she said slowly, taking a step forward.  “And if you try to stop me, all it takes is a jolt, Klaus.  One wrong move, and I’m dead.”

               She didn’t sound at all alarmed by the concept, but then again, Silence meant one wasn’t alarmed by much.  Her cold expression was a harsh reminder that he was destined  to mate with a _Psy_.

               Yet her actions stank of a desperation Psy weren’t supposed to feel.

               “Why are you doing this?” he asked her.  She remained silent, just continued to take slow steps forward.  He forced himself to step aside and Enzo did the same, and the Psy carefully turned so she continued to face them as she moved slowly, her gaze never leaving them.

               That unwavering attention became her own undoing, because she was so focused on them that when the door opened, admitting Davina and Josh, two of the pack’s Adolescents, she was taken by surprise.

               It was Davina who acted first, ever quick on her feet.  She knocked the scalpel from the Psy’s hand.  The blonde whirled, and Klaus’ hair raised in reaction the psychic powers that she wielded.  But when she saw who had attacked her – Davina, young and seventeen, but looking even younger – she froze, and Klaus took the opportunity to wrap his arms around her, pinning her arms to her side.

               “Give up, Love,” he murmured into her ear.  “You gave it a good shot, but you’re caught.”

               “Thinking that I ever needed that scalpel is incredibly stupid,” the blonde replied, her voice catching in such a way that Klaus realized she wasn’t nearly as emotionless as he had originally thought.

               It was a miscalculation on his part, and the warm blood that suddenly spurted over his hands, the look of horror that blossomed over Davina’s face, made him let out an enraged shout as his little Psy’s body suddenly slumped into his arms.

\---

               Bonnie woke slowly.  At first, she thought they must still be shut, because everything was so dark. 

               Then her eyes began to adjust, and she was able to make out faint outlines – bars and cement walls.  Fear choked her for a moment, when she reached out for Caroline and found that she couldn’t feel the other girl.           

               That she couldn’t feel _anything_.  Not the Psy that were connected to her, not the other E’s… she couldn’t feel the PsyNet at all.

               Panic rose in her throat like bile, and it felt as though she were choking on it.  Bonnie had been part of the group that had saved the Net from the virus that had infected it.  She wasn’t the type to be frightened by high danger scenarios.

               But this was completely foreign to her, and panic seemed to overwhelm her.

               Light suddenly entered the room as a door opened.  Bonnie felt herself recoil as the form of a tall man stepped into the cell with her.  She didn’t need a psychic connection to know that this man was dangerous to her.  Cold disdain seemed to ooze from him, even as he dragged a chair to the middle of the room and took a seat on it.

               “Miss Bennett, you’re awake. That’s wonderful.”

               “Where am I?” Bonnie asked, and she winced when her voice came out high and panicked.  But she wasn’t good at hiding her emotion, not like Caroline was.

               Bonnie was a Cardinal E, and Silence had always been her greatest enemy.  Letting it go had been so simple to her, embracing her emotions had been even simpler.  But it also meant that emotion could get the better of her too easily.  Bonnie closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, the exercise Ivy Jane and Sascha had taught them, and centered herself once more.

               “The boy I was with,” she said after a moment, when the man sitting in front of her simply remained silent.  “Jamie.  Where is he?”

               “Dead.”

               Bonnie jolted at that, and thought of the leopard changeling with his kind eyes and quick smile.  She wasn’t sure if it would have come to anything in the end, but he had been kind to her, when changelings had been so foreign.

               And now he was dead.

               “This will be your home for the foreseeable future, Miss Bennett,” the man continued, as though he hadn’t noticed Bonnie’s response to the news of Jamie’s fate.  Bonnie doubted that was the case however; she had been around Arrows enough to know that the truly dangerous knew how to use their words as well as their abilities.  Oh, none of those loyal to Aden would do such a thing to Bonnie or any other E…. but she knew they were capable of it.  And this man had hit Bonnie with that news precisely to throw her off.

               “Why?” she asked, pushing herself further into the wall.  She wanted to seem small and frightened.  Caroline had always told her to seem small and frightened.

               And then to take in every piece of information she could.

               So that’s what Bonnie did.  She took in as much of the room as she could.  It was small and bare, as far as she could see in the dim light the open door offered. Then she looked at the man.  His face was cast in shadows, but she thought he might be blonde.  And his accent was European – British, maybe?

               “You are going to be the hope for a new generation of Silence, Miss Bennett,” the man said, his words making panic crawl down Bonnie’s spine.  “We cannot survive without the Es, it’s true… but Silence cannot be allowed to be lost forever.  So you will bridge the gap for us, and we’ll be restored to what we’re meant to be.”

               Another beat of silence, and Bonnie stared up at him.  She knew her fear was probably a stark creature on her face, but she couldn’t help it.

               To be Silent again, would mean her death.

               “Tomorrow, we’ll begin your reconditioning.”

               The man left, and Bonnie was left in darkness, but off from the Net and stuck only with her own terror once more.

\---

               “So you just gave the Psy what she needed to get onto our land?”

               Klaus held up a hand to prevent Katherine from saying anything further.  On the screen they sat in front of, Hawke Snow’s, Alpha of the SnowDancer pack, eyes had gone flat.  Klaus wasn’t surprised by that, not when the woman Katherine had snapped at was his mate.

               Sienna was a Psy herself, though her eyes weren’t as flat as Klaus’ own mate’s were.  But while she was looking at them, her head tilted at a stubborn angle, there was a shadow in her eyes that said she wasn’t entirely sure she _had_ done the right thing, in giving the other Psy what she needed to make her way onto ForestRiver land.

               “We can send someone in to retrieve her,” said another man, this one with tilted eyes and dark hair.  Hawke had introduced him as Aden, the head of the Arrow Squad – a group that was, apparently, like the bogeymen of the Psy.

               And his little Psy was one of them.

               “And let you into Den Territory?” Katherine shot back.  “Not likely.”

               Klaus agreed, his wolf rubbing against his skin at the thought of this man – an assassin – coming anywhere near the heart of his pack.  He wondered if it had been this Arrow Squad, that had been responsible for the attack on ForestRiver all those years ago, the one that had killed so many.

               “I would meet you on the edge,” said another man, this one Aden’s companion.  He hadn’t been introduced, and Klaus wasn’t interested in his name.  Instead, he let out a low, dangerous growl that had both the Arrows, and the SnowDancer members looking at him.

               “You don’t get her,” he told the strange man, and he knew that his wolf showed in his eyes.  But the stranger had spoken with such surety, as though Klaus’ Psy somehow _belonged_ to him.  _She didn’t_. 

               “She’s your mate.”  It was impassionate observation from the dark haired man standing on Hawke’s right.  Judd Lauren – SnowDancer Lieutenant and Sienna’s uncle.  Klaus had always thought the other man seemed incredibly cold, and wondered how he’d managed to attract a wolf mate when he still seemed to be stuck in the icy claws of Silence.

               Now that Klaus had found his own mate… he thought he might understand it.

               “You _don’t_ get her,” Klaus growled again, and his lack of acknowledgement was as good as admitting that his wolf had already claimed Caroline, though the bond had not yet formed.

               It would.  They had entered the mating dance when Klaus’ gaze first landed on her unconscious form.

               Judd’s eyes flashed for a moment, and Klaus thought it was the first emotion he had ever seen from the other man.

               “She’s not… _prepared_ , for something like that,” he said, his words coming out with careful precision.  “Caroline is not a Changeling.  She doesn’t understand emotion as you know it.”

               _Caroline_.  Klaus wished he could say it out loud, but instead he rolled it around inside his mind.  _Caroline_.  It fit his little blonde Psy.

               “You know her,” Enzo observed thoughtfully from his spot at Klaus’ left shoulder.  “You might even be protective of her.”

               Aden and his companion’s gaze cut towards Judd, and even Hawke shot him a quick, curious look, but it was Sienna who answered.

               “If she doesn’t find Bonnie, it won’t matter that your wolf wants her.  She’ll fall back into Silence.  Caroline doesn’t know how to grieve, and she wouldn’t see the point when she doesn’t have to.  She’d freeze the bond out.”

               “That’s not possible,” Klaus growled.

               “You’re not Psy.”

               It was a deadlock that had him glaring at the redheaded Psy, but she just stared back defiantly.  It was clear by the way her uncle squeezed her shoulder and Hawke shifted nearer to her, that Sienna had the support of her pack.  It made Klaus huff in frustration, though he hadn’t expected anything different.

               “I still can’t sense her,” said the unnamed Psy with a frown.  “What did you do to her?”

               Klaus’s wolf snarled at the insinuation that he would be capable of harming his mate – both man and beast still chafed and hurt over the fact that she had hurt herself, leaving them helpless as she bled.  He would still be at her side now, except that Enzo and Katherine had managed to learn that Sienna had given Caroline what she needed to teleport onto their land, and Hawke was demanding that they speak.

               “Where is she now?” Judd’s voice was like a whip crack that actually made Sienna jump in surprise. 

               “Judd-” Hawke began, his voice holding warning, but there was something in the other man’s eyes that actually made Klaus answer.

               “She’s recovering in our infirmary,” he replied, and then, with shame riding him and the wolf, he admitted, “she purposely hurt herself, when I wouldn’t let her leave.”

               Hawke’s blue eyes held pity, but Judd cursed violently, showing emotion that Klaus hadn’t thought him capable of.

               “Ming made her perfect that trick,” the unnamed Psy said, looking at Judd rather than the screen.

               “Trick?” Enzo asked, suddenly alert behind Klaus.

               “She has a moderate secondary M-Psy gift that’s made stronger by her Tk ability,” Judd responded, his expression tight.  He clearly didn’t want to tell them this, but Klaus imagined Hawke had ordered him to be forthcoming during the meeting.  “She knows the body – human, Psy or Changeling – better than any doctor I know, and the first lesson she learned was how to make a wound look far worse than it truly was.”

               Klaus remained still for a second, confused by what Judd meant.  When it hit him – _Caroline had been faking it_ – he was on his feet and out of the communications room before Katherine and Enzo had time to move.  One of them would give his excuses to Hawke and the others, and if anyone would understand, it was the Alpha with his own Psy mate.

               He ran into Sage before he reached the infirmary.

               “Where is she?” he demanded of the Healer, pushing past her towards the room where he had left Caroline.

               He reached the infirmary, stood gazing into the empty room as Sage stepped up next to him.

               “I’m so sorry, Klaus,” she said, her voice soft.  The hand on his shoulder would have usually been calming, but in this instance, both man and wolf were far too enraged to be calmed.

               “Find her,” he ordered Katherine in a bark.  “Get every able bodied soldier on it if you must, _but find my mate_!”


	4. Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's Sunday again! Which means another update. In this one, we get some Carenzo interaction, and you learn a bit more about exactly how evil our villains are.

Caroline muttered a curse and pressed her fingers to her throat.  The wound was all but healed, but with their enhanced senses, she had probably left a trail as obvious as a beacon for the Changelings to follow.  She stared at the river in front of her. The current moved it quickly, and the rocks in it looked rather vicious.

               She had maneuvered across worse, though.

               She carefully stepped into the water, the icy cold water soaking through the leather of her boots.  It sent a shiver racing up her spine that made Caroline tense.  Once, she wouldn’t have noticed the temperature.  An Arrow wasn’t just taught to ignore emotion, after all, but anything that could put their mission at risk.

               Bonnie’s absence had thrown Caroline’s entire life out of order, so she gritted her teeth and began to push her way through the current.  She could return to her utter Silence, at least until Bonnie was found. 

               And if Bonnie wasn’t found?

               Caroline pushed the thought away, pausing long enough to take a deep breath.  When she opened her eyes once more, her mental blocks were in place again, the water no more than a distant coolness easily ignored. She took a moment to wet her hands and scrub them on the neck of her skin, washing away the blood left from her trick.  She felt filthy, with sweat and grime from her experience, and the vague wish that she could have had a shower before she left the RiverForest den made her shake her head and then refocus her attention. She breathed deep and steady as she made her way through the river, using her telekinesis almost subconsciously to ensure she didn’t lose her balance to the current.

               _This_ was what she had been missing since Bonnie went missing… even since before that, if Caroline were being honest.  The sudden break of Silence had thrown her off balance, left her floundering… and she couldn’t be off balance, not until she found Bonnie.

               Klaus’ wild gaze flashed in her mind, filled with hunger and possession, and Caroline was nearly lost to the current, the thought so unexpected.  She caught herself, pausing once more and clenching her jaw. He thought she was his mate.

               Caroline knew what that meant – she had been around DarkRiver and SnowDancer enough in recent months that she knew how Changeling males in the mating dance were.  Klaus wasn’t liable to let Caroline go easily.

               _I’m not Changeling_ , she thought fiercely, going so far as to mutter the words under her breath… as though that would have any influence on the situation.

               She heard a howl in the distance, and she forced her mind to calm, pushed emotion out and built up the cracks in her guards, until the dissonance that was a near constant ache in her temples abated, her emotions blocked once more.  Then she finished the trek across the river.  It would hide her scent from the wolves, and with her feet on dry land once more, Caroline began to run, her Tk helping her to move at a speed that most Psy would never be able to achieve. 

               Caroline slowed her pace when she had put enough distance between herself and Den territory.  By her calculations, this would put her in the outer ring of RiverForest territory.  The wolves would eventually search for out here, of course.  But with their habit of killing Psy first, Caroline suspected it would take them some time before they realized how far she had travelled.

               Unless, of course, the SnowDancer Psy let them know.  Caroline bit her lip and furrowed her brow.  Of the Walker family, Judd and Sienna were by far the ones that knew Caroline best.  Between those two, Judd’s powers were the most like hers, and the one that would know exactly how quickly Caroline could move.  Would he tell Klaus?

               _No._ Judd’s loyalty was to SnowDancer now, yes… but Caroline held some of that loyalty as well.  She knew that both Judd and Walker felt guilty for the children that were left to Arrow training after their escape.  It was a foolish sentiment, of course – Caroline had been sixteen when they had left the ‘Net.  By Arrow standards, she had already been Silent for 6 years.  But still Judd felt guilt, and Caroline’s understanding of the feeling told her that would mean he would withhold as much as he could for her sake.  That bought her time.

               She looked out across the forest.  Weak sunlight filtered through the trees around her, telling her it was daytime.  Being caught by the Changelings had lost her nearly a day.

               She didn’t know if Bonnie had a day to waste.

\---

               Bonnie woke when the door opened.  Not that she had been truly asleep – she had been dozing in bursts and fits, but fear of awaited her had woken her with regularity.

               As with the man from earlier – _had it been a day already_? – she couldn’t see the new man’s face.  But he was built smaller than his compatriot had been; lanky rather than solid bulk.

               “On your feet,” he ordered, his voice accented as the other’s had been.  It made Bonnie wonder where she was.  The man from yesterday had been a Psy; if he had someone that was transport enabled, she could be anywhere.

               The thought made her stomach fall.

               When Bonnie apparently didn’t move quickly enough, the new man moved forward to grab her, his grip hard on her arm.  But as soon as skin contacted skin, Bonnie felt as though she had been shocked.  The man apparently felt it as well, because he recoiled from her.  After a brief pause, he reached down once more, but this time his grip was far more gentle.

               “Who are you?” Bonnie asked him, keeping her voice low and soft.  She might not be connected to the Psy Net, but she didn’t need that connection in order to feel the pain of this young man; it all but radiated from him, and the gentle heart that made of the core of Bonnie Bennett demanded that she help him.

               “My father wishes to begin your training,” was his stony reply as he tugged her out of the dark cell.  When she entered the hall, she had to blink a few times, the sudden brightness hurting her eyes. When she could focus, stark white walls were all that surrounded them.  The man that was tugging her along had short dark brown hair and eyes that should have been blank – Psy caught in Silence were always blank – but that instead showed such pain that it almost took Bonnie’s breath away.

               This man was being torn apart inside.

               This man was not a Psy.

               There was no _way_ he was a Psy, not when those eyes spoke of actual physical pain.  Silence was not the natural state meant for anyone… but only an E like Bonnie would experience true pain from it, unless he was breaking Silence, his conditioning falling apart.

               Bonnie didn’t think so.

               “What are you?” she asked this time, but the man remained resolutely silent until they reached another door.  For a moment, he actually hesitated, his hand hovering over the handle.

               In the end, he didn’t open it at all. Bonnie knew the man that pulled it open was the same one that told her that her reconditioning would begin today.  Now she could see that he was blonde, with a neatly trimmed mustache and blue eyes.  There was something cruel in those eyes; Bonnie had seen Psy like this before, and all of them had been beyond her reach.

               The very darkest of Arrows, the ones that would never be able to breach Silence, not if they wished to remain sane.

               “What were you waiting for, Boy?” he growled.

               “I apologize, father,” Bonnie’s companion replied, and he seemed to hunch in on himself.  His father eyed him with distaste, before turning to look at Bonnie.

               “Kol will be your watchdog until your reconditioning is complete and we can trust you” – he smirked at the word dog, and the other man, Kol, seemed to hunch up even further – “be careful.  He has claws.”

               It took Bonnie a moment to realize that the words, while meant to be cruel, were also the simple truth.  She nearly strained her neck, her gaze snapping around to Kol with horror.

               This man, this _dog_ , as the other man had called him… he was…

               _A changeling_ , Bonnie realized, bile rising her throat, and the stark pain in his eyes made so much sense.  Bonnie knew what Changelings were like, how they valued pack and touch.  She _reveled_ in Changelings, because they gave her so easily what the heart of an E needed.

               What had been done to Kol went against everything a Changeling held dear.           

               _He had been Silenced_.

\---

               Enzo managed to find Klaus’ mate by sheer accident.

               He doubted he would have found her – she had done a spectacular job of hiding her scent – except that somehow she had gotten tangled on a bush that had sliced her deep enough to draw blood.  Breathing in the scent deeply, he frowned.

               As a general rule, the majority of Psy were still in icy control of themselves, and the blonde Arrow – _Caroline, the SnowDancer pack had called her Caroline_ – had been in control to an extent that Enzo had rarely seen before.  If it hadn’t been for the notably absent bite of metal in her scent, he would have assumed she was so deeply immersed in Silence that breaking it would be an impossibility.

               But she had lacked that scent, and somehow Klaus’ wolf had recognized the girl as his mate.  That meant it was Enzo’s duty as a Lieutenant to find her and bring her home safely.  He breathed in again and let out a low growl, because the girl that had been able to slice her own throat open so calculatingly wouldn’t have made a mistake like this.

               Not unless something was wrong.

               His nose wasn’t as sharp in human form as it was as a wolf, but he had chosen not to change, not wanting to frighten his Alpha’s mate should he find her.  Still, he could smell good enough to follow the scent of blood until it dried up, but even then he still had the scent of _her_.

               Citrus.  She smelled like citrus – surprisingly fresh and light for a woman whose soul was painted red with the blood of her victims.  Klaus might not have thought that far yet, but Enzo had.  The Arrows were a threat, and he specialized at gathering intel about threats… and if you were an Arrow, you were dangerous, and you killed.

               But then again, so did a Lieutenant.  He let out a howl, signaling that he had found the scent trail, and then began to move.

               He continued to follow the trail, coming up short when he had run Caroline to ground.  She had chosen to face him, rather than try to hide, and her gaze was cold as she held the scalpel she had stolen from Sage to her wrist.

               “Playing the same trick again, Caroline?” Enzo asked, keeping a careful distance from her. 

               “You know my name,” she commented, and Enzo thought that there was a bite to her voice that might have been surprise in another person.  Despite that, she didn’t ask the question that any human or Changeling would have.

               But Enzo still answered it.

               “We spoke to Sienna Lauren,” he said, keeping his voice neutral.  “She told us that she gave you the visual you needed to transport to our territory.”

               A shadow passed through Caroline’s eye at his words – guilt, perhaps – and Enzo thought her grip on the scalpel might have wavered for a brief moment.

               An eternity, really, for someone as cold as this girl.

               “You can’t blame her,” Caroline said after a moment.  Enzo nearly snorted, because did this Psy really think she could order any of them, much less a pack Lieutenant, around like that?  Except then she continued to speak.  “Sienna is… she is a… a _friend_.  And she feels like she owes me.  She doesn’t, but her Silence has been broken, so she doesn’t see things practically anymore.  I knew that, and I used it anyway.  I try not to, because she’s a… _friend_ , but Judd is a Lieutenant, and while he may feel guilt, he wouldn’t have given me what I wanted.  He’s better able to compartmentalize than Sienna is, you see.”

               She was… but it wasn’t possible.  Enzo blinked, even as Caroline continued to explain why they couldn’t blame Sienna for helping her.  She mentioned being _friends_ – always in that tone, as though she weren’t quite sure what the word meant – at least twice more, and of course the name _Bonnie_ was spoken three times.

               And she was rambling. For a moment, Enzo felt pure shock, but then he began to relax, and that relaxation gave way to chuckles.

               Caroline stopped speaking and stared at him, and though there was still a remoteness to her expression, this time Enzo was far more easily able to pinpoint the emotion that was her confusion.

               “You were rambling, Gorgeous,” he informed her, taking a step towards her.  She continued to stare, but her grip on the scalpel had loosened, and her arm seemed to hang almost limply in the air. 

               “I… I sometimes do that.  Bonnie always knows how to stop me.” Caroline’s voice sounded lost and confused, and for the first time Enzo looked past the title of Arrow, looked past the veneer of Silence, and actually looked to the woman beneath it all.

               She was young.  It was a jolt of realization.  She was the same age as Hawke’s mate, Enzo knew.  Which meant she wasn’t even twenty yet.  Yet she had been one of the Psy’s bogeymen.

               And now she was trying to navigate a strange new world without her anchor to help her, and so for the first time, Enzo didn’t look at her as a dangerous threat.

               In that moment, she was a scared girl.  One who rambled when she was nervous, even if she didn’t realize that nervous was what she felt.

               “I’m not going to hurt you,” he said to her softly, holding out a hand beseechingly.  “I swear, none of us mean you harm.”

               For a moment, Enzo thought she was going to hand the scalpel over; maybe even let him offer her the comfort it was desperately clear that she needed. Then she closed her eyes, and Enzo froze.

               He should have taken that moment to act, but instead he waited, and when her eyes opened again, the storm of emotion that had been there before was gone, hidden behind that eerie wall of Silence that always made Enzo’s wolf growl and claw at his skin.

               “You won’t hurt me, but you won’t help me either,” she said, her voice arctic cold.  “You’ll take me back to your alpha, and he’ll never let me go.”

               “You’re his mate, Gorgeous.  You can’t expect him to let you go.”

               “That’s the second time you’ve called me that.  You don’t…” her jaw clenched, and she appeared to be struggling to find the right words.  “You don’t have those privileges.”

               Enzo said nothing, just kept his gaze carefully focused on Caroline.  He needed her to remain focused on him in return, because he could scent Klaus nearly on them. 

               “Why is Bonnie so important to you?” he finally asked, to keep her focus away from their surroundings.

               “She is my E,” Caroline replied simply, her brow furrowing at the question.  He saw realization hit her, as she realized what he was doing, a split second before the arms of Enzo’s Alpha banded around her, pulling her back into his arms.

               Enzo felt himself tense with Caroline, and he hoped that Klaus wasn’t about to screw this up spectacularly.

\---

               Her back was to him, and Klaus took a moment to breathe in deeply, the fresh scent of his mate invading his senses.  The wolf that had been clawing to get out relaxed minutely, but it was still tense, would remain so until their mate was in their arms, their nose pressed to her hair.

               “Why is Bonnie so important to you?” Enzo asked, and Klaus bit back a growl of approval, at the way his Lieutenant kept Caroline’s attention from her surroundings.  Though Klaus knew he could rely on all of his Lieutenants, the bond between he and Enzo was forged in blood and brotherhood, not caused just by Enzo’s mate being Klaus’ sister. 

               “She is my E,” Caroline replied, her voice clipped and precise.  Klaus had a vague idea of what it meant to be an E-Psy thanks to his connection with SnowDancer, but he made a mental note to ask Hawke more detailed questions about it next time they spoke. If she was going to be this desperate to find this Bonnie, then Klaus wanted to know exactly _why_.

               But that was for later, when he had Caroline back in the den, back in safety.  His heel crushed a twig just a step behind her, and Caroline’s spine stiffened.  She began to turn around, but Klaus’ arms came around her in a tight band, trapping her arms against her side. He squeezed her wrist just hard enough to force her to drop the scalpel, but not so hard as to cause lasting damage.

               “You’re surprisingly difficult to find,” he murmured against her ear, before nuzzling his nose into her hair and breathing in her scent deeply, both man and wolf calmed by the contact.  But when she didn’t relax into the hold, the wolf whined in distress, and Klaus felt his expression turn into a scowl.  “I’m not going to hurt you.”

               “What you are doing requires _skin privileges_ ,” she said the words as though they were foreign.  “You do not have them.”

               “I am your mate,” Klaus growled, his temper getting the better of him as he twirled her in his hold, his grip firm but careful on her biceps as he glared down at her.

               “Not until I say so,” Caroline replied, her expression carefully blank, and a snarl escaped Klaus’ lips at the lack of expression.  “And I _won’t_.”

               She swept her leg out, catching a surprised Klaus by the ankle. Enzo let out an oath behind her, but Klaus just switched his grip into a hug, and when he went down, she was pulled with him.  He made sure that she landed on top of him, but her weight knocking the breath out of him wasn’t enough to slow down his next move.

               He whirled them around, so that his mate was on her back, and straddled her waist, pinning her arms down.  He met her gaze, and her blue green eyes flashed dangerously.

               “Klaus-” Enzo began, but Klaus let out a vicious snarl to silence him, never taking his gaze from Caroline’s.

               “I could kill you,” she said, her voice dangerously soft.  For a moment, he was reminded harshly of Judd Lauren, but where Klaus’ wolf always prowled with angry discontent around that particular Psy, it let out a pleased growl in response to Caroline’s threat.  This was not a woman who would be easily taken out.  She was _strong_ , and Klaus needed a strong mate. 

               “Do it, then,” he replied, his voice coming out almost as a purr.  He pressed his body into hers, running his nose along her jaw. She let out a shudder, and when Klaus pulled back, her eyes had drifted closed, and goosebumps ran along her arms.  He smirked for a moment, but when she shivered again, the smirk faded.  “You’re freezing.”

               “I swam through the river,” she responded, and Klaus muttered darkly at the thought of his mate swimming through the icy cold of the river.

               Klaus growled and pulled himself off of her.  He got to his feet and held out his hand.  Caroline considered it for a moment, before her eyes darted around their surroundings.  She was searching for another escape route, and it made Klaus’ wolf restless.

               “No matter where you run, Love, you won’t escape me.  Not only do I know this land better, but I can _feel_ you.” His words made Caroline freeze, and though she tried to keep her expression flat, he saw uncertainty in her eyes.  He bent down and took her hand in his, carefully tugging her up.  He took his jacket off and wrapped it around her shoulders, making her blink up at him with surprise.  “You feel it, don’t you?”

               “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” was Caroline’s response, and Klaus felt a moment of surprise, that then turned into laughter.

               Because his little mate, this powerful little creature that had apparently killed without hesitation, was an unbelievably _horrible_ liar.

               “I can’t feel anything,” she said after a moment, when her lie and his laughter filled the space between them.  “Because I need to find Bonnie.  Feelings will interfere in that.”

               “And if I swore that my pack would assist you in… finding this Bonnie?”

               Caroline stared at him for a long moment, her expression enigmatic.  He had made the offer in the Den without meaning it, but that had been before Caroline had slashed her own throat to find this Bonnie.  Klaus was many things, but an idiot was not among them.  Clearly, Bonnie was required for his mate’s happiness; thus, Klaus would make sure his mate had Bonnie.

               “How do I know you would truly help?”

               Klaus felt his expression tighten, at words that showed how little Caroline trusted him.  He knew that trust required time, of course, but wolf and men were impatient and wanted the trust – wanted the _bond_ – now. Enzo spoke, nearly breaking the thin control Klaus was just barely maintaining over his wolf.

               “We’ll let you help,” his Lieutenant said.  “I’ll take you across every inch of the territory myself if I must.”

               Klaus thought he might tear Enzo’s throat out for that, but the expression on the Lieutenant’s face reminded Klaus that Enzo had spoken to Caroline far longer than Klaus himself, and likely had some insight to her psyche that made him decide this was the only way to get her back to the den.

               Still, it sat ill with Klaus that the other man was interfering.

               However, any attack Klaus might have decided on was brought up short by the scent of Katherine, and then her appearance moments later.

               “You found her,” the dark haired woman observed coming up short.  “Good. We have interlopers on our land.  I caught their scent five miles north of her” – her gaze arrowed in on Caroline, and Klaus gave a low growl when his Lieutenant began to stalk toward her.  Katherine came up short with a hard expression – “How did you know that your friend was in our territory?”

               It was a question that Klaus should have asked himself, but he had been too blinded by the dance that had begun as soon as he had looked at Caroline.  Now, he went tense, waiting for her response.

               Caroline began to respond, but before the first syllable could be heard, her eyes widened, and she fell to a knee, clutching at her chest. 

               “Caroline?” Klaus demanded, dropping to her side, wrapping his arms around her.  Rather than move away, she curled her body into his, seeking out the comfort of his touch, and the reaction made worry catch in Klaus’ throat.

               “Bonnie,” she managed to get out hoarsely after a moment.  “They’re hurting her.”


	5. Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's Sunday again! Which means another chapter. Please enjoy...

               It had been an incredibly quick flash.

               Caroline doubted that anyone else connected to Bonnie on the ‘Net would have even sensed it.  But Caroline was closest to the E, and though it had been quick, the pain had been so… _much_.  And it hadn’t been physical pain.

               This pain had been _psychic_.

               “How do you know?” Klaus demanded. 

               Caroline looked at him blankly, and then around in confusion when she realized the world around her was moving.  Klaus had swept her into his arms and was carrying her back toward the den.  Back to the den was in the wrong direction. Though the heart of Caroline – the part of her this Changeling would call her _instinct_ – said that Klaus’ second offer of assistance was genuine, unlike the one he’d made in the den, her _mind_ told her that she needed to get to Bonnie _now_.

               “Put me down,” she commanded.

               Klaus ignored her, instead just adjusting his hold so that she was pressed even closer to his chest.

               “You didn’t answer my question,” he informed her.  “ _How did you know_?”

               Instead of answering his question, Caroline concentrated on the arms around her.  Her vision seemed to look inside of him, to hundreds of thousands of tiny veins and arteries, and for a reckless moment she considered slicing through them.  Let the Alpha bleed out and –

               Something within her rebelled at the thought.  It wouldn’t be the first time she caused internal bleeding until death, but whereas all those other victims ( _nameless_ , Ming would call them… except they never had been to Caroline – a hundred names written inside her mind that she could never forget) had been taken care of with a ruthless efficiency, Caroline found herself pulling out of her M-Psy vision without causing any harm. 

               Instead, she adjusted her body, and when Klaus moved his arms to make up for the change in position, she threw herself into his chest, throwing him off balance.  He cursed, his grip on her loosening, and Caroline used the opportunity to push herself away from him.  Katherine and Enzo both growled, but a quick blast of Tk had them both stumbling back.  Caroline turned on her heel and ran. 

               She could feel the strain on her powers already.  She still hadn’t entirely recovered from her teleporting of earlier, but sheer stubbornness had her pushing her speed once more despite the headache she could feel forming in her temples.

               She assumed it was from the psychic strain, but it could, she acknowledged, also be the dissonance.  Between worry over Bonnie and… whatever it was Klaus inspired in her, she was under more emotional strain than she was able to easily handle.

               She ran and heard a mournful howl behind her, and she felt herself stumble for a second, the pain in her temples suddenly so sharp that it made dark spots appear in front of her eyes.  She leaned against a tree, one hand gripping her head while the other clutched her heart.

               She tried to build her shields back up, but found that with each fracture she fixed, another one formed.  She buried both hands in her hair, tugging until it caused a sharp pain in her scalp that helped to distract from the ache in her temples.  Closing her eyes tightly, she took a deep breath and tried to work on the shields once more.

               Again, she failed.  Then, there was a large, warm presence at her side.  Looking down with surprise, she saw familiar blue eyes gazing at her from the face of a grey and white wolf.  When he saw that he had her attention, Klaus nudged her with his nose until Caroline lowered one of her hands and let it stroke through his fur.

               She swallowed thickly, but the pain in her temples had faded to a dull throb, and Caroline slowly lowered herself to the ground and let him curve around her, so that she could lean against his body and continue to stroke his head.

               “How did you do that?” she asked him.  He just looked at her with those blue eyes and rested his head on his paws.  Caroline continued her stroking and closed her eyes.  She began to mend the fractures in her shields to the ‘Net, but when she turned to the ones in her conditioning and began to work on them, the slightest of nips brought her out of her mind to stare at Klaus as she clutched her elbow.  “I need to be Silent, Klaus.  I’ll hurt you; hurt your _people_ , otherwise.”

               Hadn’t she hurt Judd, after all? A hundred tiny slices that the Tk-Cell had been able to mend, but that would take others, even Changelings, longer.  Another nip drew her attention to Klaus once more, and sat on his haunches and nuzzled his nose into her neck.  Caroline shivered at the cool sensation, and her hand began to stroke over his fur once more.  She couldn’t seem to stop herself, the fur cool and coarse beneath her fingers.  She had never believed herself to be a tactile creature, but she thought she might be able to stroke Klaus for eternity.

               _And what a foolish thought._

Caroline shook her head and pushed herself up to her feet.  She looked down at the wolf, who was still watching her.  She shot a quick glance to the forest around her, before a low growl made her look at Klaus once more.

               “I won’t be able to out run you when you’re like this,” Caroline noted calmly.  Even at full capabilities, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to out run a Changeling in beast form, and her Tk powers were nearly at empty.  She wasn’t going to burn out again… so long as she didn’t try to stretch her psychic muscles any further.  “But I need to find Bonnie.”

               Klaus rubbed his fur against her side and then began to walk in the direction of the Den once more.  When Caroline remained still, he looked over his shoulder with what Caroline thought might have been frustration, although it seemed odd, to think of a wolf as being frustrated.

               They had been walking for approximately five minutes, when Caroline had to stop.  The world around her spun, and she felt herself sway on her feet. 

               She was _cold_ she realized, and when she tried to regulate the air around her, to warm it up with her telekinesis, she found that her psychic tank was all but empty.

               “I think I’m going to lose consciousness,” she told the wolf solemnly.  “We’ll have to discuss this unfortunate habit you have of hunting me when I awaken.”

               She thought the wolf’s eyes might have widened, but it may have just been whimsical thinking brought on by the sudden weakness.  When the Earth began to come towards her, she knew she had lost the battle, but she wasn’t worried about injury.

               She knew the Alpha would catch her.

\---

               One moment, she knew pain.  The next, it came to a blessed halt, and Bonnie was left gasping for breath on the floor, vicious telepathic fingers retreating from her mind.

               It took her a moment  to realize what she was looking at.  The telepath that had been attacking her was being attacked himself, and it made no sense to Bonnie at first.  It took her a good minute to realize that the one attacking him was _Kol_.

               By the time her mind came to that conclusion, the Silent Changeling was on his knees clutching at his head.  The blonde man – _Mikael_ , Bonnie had heard someone call him that – gave Kol a harsh kick in the ribs, making him grunt in pain.

               “What do you think you’re doing, _boy_?” Mikael demanded.

               Kol looked up, and for a moment his eyes seemed to flash amber.  Then they faded back to their regular color, and he seemed at a loss of words for far too long.

               “Rehabilitation,” he blurted out, when Mikael would have kicked him again.  “What Finn was doing… it was taking the Empath too close to Rehabilitation.  We can’t use a completely rehabilitated E.”

               Kol was… _lying_.  His expression seemed smooth – except for those eternally tortured eyes – but to Bonnie’s emotional senses, it was clear that this was _not_ his reason for attacking the other man, _Finn_.

               “Kol is right, Mikael.”

               The new voice made Bonnie turn cold.  It was hard and emotionless, and when Bonnie turned her gaze to the fourth man in the room she felt… _nothing_.  Absolutely _nothing_.

               It made chills run along her skin, and though he looked harmless – the type of man you could see on the street and never look at twice – instinct told Bonnie that of all the men in the room, this one was the most dangerous.

               “We need her to be useful, and Finn is working with all the subtly of a wrecking ball.” He turned chilling eyes on Bonnie, and she tried to push herself back into the wall.  His expression didn’t change, but something in his eyes gave her the sense that he liked that reaction.  “Give us the room.”

               Finn left immediately, the good little soldier.  Mikael gave a slow nod and followed the other man, stopping in the doorway when Kol got to his feet but didn’t leave from his spot in the middle of the room.

               “Come, Kol.”

               Kol looked ready to argue, and Mikael clearly saw that as well, taking  step toward him with blood in his eyes.

               “Stand outside, Kol.  You’ll be close enough to be sure I don’t do any lasting damage.  The boy is a credit to your name, Mikael, with his dedication.”

               Mikael turned sharply on his heel and left the room.  Kol stood in place for a long moment longer, and Bonnie could all but see him rebuild his shields.  He looked back at her once, and this time, rather than pain in his eyes, it was raw, burning _hunger_ that all but took her breath away.  Then his expression shuttered, and he stepped out as well.

               Left in the room with only the fourth man, Bonnie felt terror begin to rise.  He knelt next to her, a smile curving his lips.  But it was an empty smile, the one she knew some of the politicians had learned under Silence, in order to put the humans and Changelings at ease.  On this man, it just frightened her more.

               “He’s a troublesome one, that Kol.  What Mikael did… it’s an exercise in futility out of spite.  He’ll end up destroying himself.  Changelings aren’t like Psy.  They aren’t capable of perfection” – the man reached out and tilted Bonnie’s chin – “everything that Krychek is feeding us tells us that you aren’t capable of it either.  For your sake, I truly hope that research is wrong.  Or this will hurt before you break.”

               “Why are you doing this?” Bonnie demanded.  She didn’t actually ask, but hidden in the question was what she truly wanted to know – _why me_?

               “Mikael wanted a Cardinal,” the man replied simply.  “You’re the most powerful, the most useful to us.  He didn’t care which one.  Me?  I’m the one that wanted _you_.”

               Bonnie would have asked him why, except he began to work then.  His was a far more insidious attack than Finn’s, with all the subtly that the man said Finn lacked.

               He made her scream even faster than Finn had.

\---

               Caroline awoke slowly.  She wasn’t as confused as when she had woken in the infirmary.  She sat up in a bed that was very large – built for more than one person… or a dominant Alpha that liked to take up a lot of space.

               The sheets next to her were messed up, though they were cold to the touch when she laid her palm on them.  And the fluffy white pillow had an ident, as though someone had been using it.  She wasn’t sure what made her do it, but she leaned over and inhaled.  She hadn’t been aware of taking in Klaus’ scent during the times he had held her, but she knew that the scent belonged to him.

               Caroline ran a hand through her hair and closed her eyes.  The wolf Alpha made her feel… uncomfortable.  Not like the time she’d had her picture taken by human media when she had been helping Vasic, but more like she didn’t fit in her skin when he was around.

               Trying to ignore thoughts of Klaus, she reached out for Bonnie.  There was nothing more than that vague sense of her, but Caroline decided that was for the best.  She’d only felt the connection before because Bonnie had been in such pain… so long as she couldn’t get a good lock, it meant Bonnie’s emotions weren’t so extreme.

               Caroline got out of the bed.  Someone had taken off her clothes and left her in a grey Henley that didn’t cover much, and that she could tell belonged to Klaus – once more, it smelled like him.  She had been naked in front of men before.  Her work with the Arrows didn’t recognize genders, after all.  But while those incidences had never made her uncomfortable, the thought of Klaus seeing her in just her underwear made her skin flush.

               There was nothing seductive about the practical underwear, but they were in bright colors, not at all the regulation black that Arrows had been expected to wear under Silence.

               Caroline felt like an idiot, for even thinking like that, and she shoved into a room off the bedroom, one she assumed had to be a bathroom.  She was right, and saw that there was a set of dark towels and a pile of clothing left there.

               She had planned to take ten minutes to shower and dress, but when she finally got under the hot water, she found herself luxuriating instead.  She wasn’t sure how long she had been asleep, but she’d been in the wilderness for days without a shower.  She felt filthy, and allowing the hot water to slice down her skin felt as close to heaven as Caroline was ever likely to achieve.

               When she finally got out of the shower, it had been twenty minutes, but she couldn’t regret it.  Still, to make up for the time in the shower, she was quick in pulling on the clothes and dragging a brush through her hair until it was untangled and could be arranged in a neat braid down her back.  She allowed herself to think, to consider another plan of escape.  But any time she thought she might have one, she reconsidered.

               She had tried to run at least three times, and each time, Klaus had found her.  Logic told her he would continue to do so, no matter how far she ran, which made escape a useless endeavor that wouldn’t get her any closer to Bonnie.  His original offer of assistance hadn’t been genuine… but the one he’d made in the forest?

               He believed she was his mate, which meant he would want her to be happy.  Caroline didn’t know what else she could do, to prove that she needed Bonnie to be… _happy_.  Which meant he would help her.  A pack of Changelings would be of great assistance, so the best plan of action was to use them.

               Yet that word – _use_ – left a sour taste in Caroline’s mouth.  A sour taste she didn’t want to think on, because it insinuated emotions Caroline couldn’t allow herself to feel.

Caroline looked at herself in the mirror. The note Klaus had left said the clothes belonged to his sister – a simple pink tank top and soft grey sweat pants.  They weren’t at all like her usual body armour, or the khakis and black t-shirt she had adopted as “civilian clothes.”  But when she had looked at the tag, she had recognized the brand as one of Bonnie’s favorites.  Caroline had an entire drawer full of them back in the apartment, and though she only wore them when it was just the two of them, she had always loved them for the way they felt against her skin.

               A fault in her Conditioning, but though she would never give up Silence entirely, Caroline had decided it was a fault that could be forgiven; the effect of living as closely with an E as she did.

               Shaking her head, as if the action would dislodge such thoughts, and then huffing at such foolish actions, Caroline left the room, to find that he and Enzo waited for her outside.

               “We thought we’d take you for some food, Gorgeous,” Enzo told her with his easy grin.  Klaus growled at him, but the Lieutenant just smirked and shrugged.

               “Do you have any nutrient bars?” Caroline asked.  Both men just gave her flat looks, which she had expected.  Changelings and humans didn’t like the bland flavors of the bars, but Caroline had always eaten them because they kept her alive and were quick.

               “We’ll teach your palate to prefer the finer things in life, just wait,” Enzo assured her.  Klaus stepped up to her side, a hand on her back guiding her down the hall.

               “There’s a general mess hall down this way,” he explained.  “You don’t have to eat there, of course, but people often do as it’s an easy way to catch up.”

               The Arrows had a mess hall, but it was normally filled with silence, other than the regular sounds one made when eating.  As a group, they weren’t exactly known for chatting, though Ivy had made it her personal mission to change that.  Caroline could still remember one bewildering afternoon at the cabin the other woman shared with Vasic, when Caroline had spoken to the two of them for a full fifteen minutes about the weather of all things.

               “I don’t have anyone to catch up with,” Caroline pointed out.  “I only know the two of you, Katherine, and Sage. I don’t believe either of them are apt to wish to speak with me, and if the two of you had anything to tell me, you would have already.”

               “There are plenty of other things we could talk about, Love,” Klaus replied, and when he spoke, he leaned down, so his lips were close to her ear.  The sensation made her shiver. 

               “Like what?” she found herself asking before she could think better of it. She shouldn’t be wasting time with this, not with Bonnie out there alone.  But her stomach clenched with hunger, reminding her that she had been asleep for an unknown length of time, though she would guess at least twelve hours, as her psychic powers were once more at full strength.

               “You,” Klaus said easily.  “Your hopes, your dreams.”

               His words made Caroline stop to stare at him.  He stopped as well, looking down at her with raised brows.  Caroline tried to remember if anyone had ever asked her about her hopes or her dreams, but she couldn’t think of one, not even Bonnie.

               _Did she even have hopes and dreams?_

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of feet skidding around the corner and then a shout.

               “Daddy!”

               For a horrific moment, Caroline thought the little boy that had appeared was speaking to Klaus.  When instead he ran to Enzo, all but leaping into the Lieutenant’s arms, something blossomed in her chest…. Something that she would never admit was relief.

               “Hi Uncle, Klaus!” the boy greeted Klaus, after he had gotten a tight hug and a kiss to his dark curls from Enzo.  He held his arms out to the Alpha, who scooped him up.  Hugging Klaus’ neck, the boy looked at Caroline.  “You’re really pretty.”

               Caroline stared at the small boy, not sure how to respond to his statement.  Klaus turned his head, but Caroline saw that his lips had curved into a smirk.  She narrowed her eyes at him, only to smooth her features out again when the boy spoke again.

               “Will you pick me up?”

               He reached his arms towards Caroline who stared at him again, completely gobsmacked by the open question and trust in the child’s features.  She guessed he was around 3, maybe 4 judging by his speech patterns.  Caroline tried to recall herself at that age… she didn’t officially enter Arrow training until she was 5, but official didn’t count for much, and her father had –

               Caroline immediately slammed closed those thoughts.  She _didn’t_ want to think about her parents.  Parent that had…

               She saw Enzo give her a glance, and then exchange a look with Klaus, before he stepped up with the intent to take his son in his arms once more.  Caroline gave her head a small shake and then reached out with her powers. 

               The look on Klaus’ face when the boy floated out of his arms was so comical, Caroline almost wished she knew how to laugh.  Instead, she let the boy do it for her, his giggles an almost musical sound.  He moved into a summersault, and Caroline adjusted her telekinetic grip to allow for the movement.

               “You’re making me fly!” he said with excitement when he was horizontal to the ground, reaching his arms in front of him.

               “Technically, you’re floating,” Caroline replied, but she nudged him forward gently, until he landed in Enzo’s arms once more.  She made sure the boy’s father had a good grip before she released her hold. 

               “I flew at the end,” the boy countered, a stubborn expression on his face.  His hair and eyes were his fathers, but that stubborn expression made her think of Klaus, and she recalled that the boy had called him _uncle_.  “I’m Henrik!”

               He held out his little hand, and Caroline accepted it solemnly, having grown used to the Human and Changeling desire to shake hands in her time since the fall of Silence.

               “I am Caroline,” she replied, releasing her grip. 

               “You’re a Psy,” Henrik said.  “I’ve learned about them.  I didn’t know there were Psy in the den.  I bet you’re super smart; my Psy classmates are super smart.  I came to find my daddy to have lunch.  Can you make me fly again?”

               It was difficult to keep up with Henrik’s thought processes, as they didn’t appear to follow any logical rhythm.  But after a beat, Caroline realized that he wasn’t going to continue speaking and actually expected an answer.  She looked to Enzo and Klaus for guidance, but both of them wore smirks that told her they would be of no help.

               “Only if you eat your vegetables,” she said at last, after contemplating all the pros and cons.  She truly couldn’t see any cons, as the boy was small enough that lifting him didn’t put a strain on her mental capabilities.  “Since Changelings don’t like nutrition bars, vegetables are necessary for growing boys.”

               “But it’s broccoli,” Henrik wrinkled his nose in distaste.  “I _hate_ broccoli.”

               Caroline thought of the green vegetable in question.  Bonnie didn’t like nutrition bars either, and so she was always cooking meals.  Every now and then, Caroline would let her feed her one, just to see Bonnie smile.  Broccoli had come up in such a meal before.

               “I don’t like it either,” she told the boy.  “But if you eat yours, then I’ll eat mine.”

               Henrik considered this thoughtfully, and after a moment he gave her a solemn nod.

               “Okay, but you have to make me fly again afterwards.”

               “Henrik,” Enzo said, giving the boy a serious look.  “That’s rude.”

               “Please,” Henrik added to Caroline after a moment engaged in a staring war.

               Enzo chuckled and began to walk down the hall, Klaus’ hand fell to the small of Caroline’s back once more and he directed her after them.

               “I already told him I would make him fly if he ate his vegetables,” she said to Klaus in confusion.  “The please wasn’t necessary.”

               “Henrik is still just a toddler.  He’s being taught his manners,” Klaus replied with a grin and chuckle.  Caroline gave a low hum that made him furrow his brow at her.  “What does that noise mean?”

               “Nothing… just…” Caroline hesitated for a moment, then shrugged.  “ _You_ don’t say please.  Did you miss those lessons as a child?”

               She kept walking, until she realized that Klaus was no longer at her side.  She stopped and looked back at him.

               “You just teased me,” Klaus said, his face surprised.  Caroline was taken aback for a moment, before she shook her head in denial, but a slow smirk began to grow across his face.  “Oh, you can deny it all you want, Love; but it won’t change what happened.  _You just teased me_.”

               “I was pointing out irrefutable facts,” she replied, and she knew her voice was too prim – that it gave away far too much unease.  And Klaus’ answer was to show even more teeth in his smirk.  But he didn’t say anything more, and they continued to walk.

               They reached the mess hall, and Klaus pushed open the door for her.  Caroline stepped inside and Henrik began to wave for her to join him, Enzo, and a beautiful blonde woman.  She hesitated before going to them however.

               “Was it okay?” she asked Klaus slowly.  “My teasing you?”

               She hadn’t done it before, but maybe it was something she could do more often.  With Bonnie, of course… because once she had found her friend, she wouldn’t be _here_ anymore.  There would be no teasing of a man with dimples that looked at her like she was water and he was lost in a desert.

               “Love, I plan on you teasing me for years to come.”

               She would have told him that wasn’t going to happen, but his smile was just so… _happy_.  And really, it wasn’t worth it to start an argument, not when they were going to be sitting with Henrik. 

               It wasn’t because she wanted to grow an attachment to the man at her side.  Not at all.

               Caroline was smarter than that.


	6. Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's Sunday again! That means an update. And in this one, we get some Rebekoline interaction!

“Love, meet Rebekah.  My younger sister.”

               Klaus held a chair out, his hand grazing Caroline’s back as he helped her sit.  Across from them, Rebekah watched the Psy with cool eyes, her fingers stroking through Henrik’s dark curls while Enzo held him on his lap.

               “You’re the Psy that thr-” Rebekah cut herself off, her eyes darting to Henrik for a second, “had a disagreement with Sage.”

               “There was no disagreement,” Caroline replied as coolly as Rebekah, though her tone was a result of Silence, and not an attempt to be cold, as Rebekah’s was.  “It appeared to be the most expedient way of getting my point across.”

               “Yet you’re still here.”

               Caroline contemplated Rebekah with an expression Klaus thought might be thoughtful. He knew that she could probably handle his sister, but Klaus still found himself growling a warning in Rebekah’s direction, as he took the seat next to his mate.  To his surprise, Caroline reached out and touched him at the growl.  It was to dig her fingers into his thigh, as though her clawless fingertips could do him any harm, but it was still touch.

               “I’m still here,” Caroline agreed with a sharp nod.  “I made the same mistake far too many of brethren have and underestimated a Changeling pack.  I will not do that again.”

               _Again_ , which insinuated that she would make another attempt to escape, and this time Klaus’ growl was directed at her.  Caroline looked up at him, her face passive for a moment, before her lips curved into a hint of a scowl.

               “Your habit of growling at that which displeases you is troubling,” she informed him.  “You are not _my_ Alpha – that role belongs to Aden.  Only he is allowed to growl at me, not that he does.  Arrows don’t growl.”

               “Apparently Arrows don’t do much of anything,” Rebekah interjected.  Caroline might have responded, except that Enzo reached up and gave a lock of Rebekah’s hair a teasing tug and leaned in, murmuring something into her ear that turned her frigid expression into a warm smile.  Caroline quirked her head, the interplay between mates still a curious thing to her.

               Some Arrows had begun to partner off.  She had seen Vasic, normally so distant, smile at Ivy.  Even Zaira, who had always seemed somewhat terrifying to Caroline, was almost a different person around Aden.  Ivy was the most open of all of them, but even she wasn’t as public with her affection as these Changelings.

               “You’re not s’posed to stare,” Henrik told her from his father’s lap, his words muffled around a forkful of some sort of chicken.  Caroline glanced at his plate and saw that his broccoli remained untouched and raised a brow, before taking a piece of the vegetable from her own plate and putting it in her mouth.

               Seeing her actions, Henrik sighed but speared the broccoli and shoved it into his mouth.  Rebekah looked at him with surprise. 

               “Caroline won’t make me fly unless I eat the veg’tables.”

               “Don’t speak with your mouth full, Henrik,” Rebekah replied, but when she turned her gaze to Caroline, her eyes were once more cold.  “Fly?”

               Klaus tensed next to her, a growl rumbling in his chest, and Caroline gave him a quick glance, before explaining to Rebekah.

               “Henrik is quite small.  Lifting him is really no strain on my mind.”

               “You let her use her powers on my _son_?!” the words were nearly a shriek, Rebekah’s chair falling with a crash as she jumped to her feet.  Caroline recoiled at the noise, pushing herself into Klaus’ side before she had time to truly consider it.

               _Everyone is lying!  All of them lie! I can’t get them out of my head unless they stop lying!_

Caroline heard the chair next to her crack, shooting a look at it to see the cracks running along its seat.  Dissonance was a sharp pain in her temples, reminding her that she needed to get her powers under control or her trip wires would be set off and knock her out.

               “Caroline?”

               A hand, warm and steady, cradled her cheek and Caroline let it turn her face so that she was looking up at Klaus.  His other hand came up, so that he cradled her cheeks between both palms.

               “Come back to us, Love,” he said, leaning down so that his lips were almost against hers. Caroline felt a gasp of breath escape her lips, and for a single crazy moment, she almost leaned forward and closed the distance between them.

               “I can’t believe you let her use her powers on our _son_!”

               The words, this time spoken in an angry growl, but not a raised voice, reminded Caroline of where she was – _of why kissing Klaus was a horrible idea_ – and she pulled back from him, pushing hair that had fallen from her braid behind her ear.  She looked at Rebekah, who was growling at Enzo, but glaring at _her_.

               “I apologize, if you do not wish me to use my telekinesis in such a way,” Caroline said, her voice stiff and distant.  But distance was good… she needed distance from these Changelings, who made it entirely too easy to _feel_.  “The Arrow children enjoy it.  So it seemed… natural, to play with Henrik in the same way.  I will refrain in the future.”

               “What does refrain mean?” Henrik asked.  He had cuddled into his father at his mother’s outburst, but now that Rebekah was calmer, he had wrapped his arms around her leg and was hugging himself close.

               “It means I won’t be able to make you fly again,” Caroline explained to the young boy.  At her words, tears filled his eyes, and Caroline’s gaze darted between Rebekah and Enzo.  She had dealt with crying children – not often, but all the Arrows that weren’t known for being violent had learned to deal with the emotions of the young.  But that didn’t mean she was necessarily comfortable around such displays of affection, particularly not in a situation like this, when she didn’t have the same rights to the child as she did the Arrow children.

               “B-but… it was fun, mommy!” Henrik looked up at Rebekah with tears in his eyes.  Rebekah on the other hand, was still looking at Caroline, but no longer did she look ready to attack.  Instead, there was a furrow in her brow, as though she was confused.

               “Arrow children?” she asked at last.

               “The children with dangerous combative powers that are still given into the charge of the Squad.  They are no longer expected to be Silent, but they still have to learn to control their abilities” – Caroline bit her lip thoughtfully, and remembered the comparison Aden had once given, on he had gotten from the RainFire Leopard Alpha – “it’s like Henrik, learning that he should not use his claws or teeth in play.”

               “I could hurt someone!” Henrik piped up, his tears drying up at the opportunity to show off his lessons.  “So we’re careful!”

               “Show me,” Rebekah ordered, and Klaus once more growled, but Caroline rested her hand on his knee and kept her gaze on Rebekah.

               After a moment, the other blonde began to float in the air.  She looked down startled, while Henrik clapped his hands gleefully.

               “Mommy flies!”

               Caroline kept Rebekah in place for a moment, and then lowered her back to the ground.

               “Henrik, it’s time for your nap,” Rebekah informed her son, hefting him so he rested against her hip.  She pressed a kiss to Enzo’s temple that made the Lieutenant grin, and gave her brother an exasperated look. “Stop growling at me, Nik.  Henrik is my son, and I feel no mating urge to the woman that makes me want to give her my eternal trust.”

               “Your sister’s points are valid,” Caroline added.  “Given your pack’s history with the Psy, I would have to assume that your people were either stupid or naïve if they simply accepted me.”

               “I’m the Alpha,” Klaus replied grumpily.  “They’re my pack.”

               “But I’m not,” Caroline corrected softly.  “I’m a… I’m an impossible possibility, Klaus.  And without that mating bond in place, I’m just an outsider.”

               When Caroline looked at Rebekah once more, it was to see that confused furrow again.

               “Is something wrong?” she asked the Changeling.

               “No… but…” Rebekah scowled slightly, as though trying to decide exactly what to say.  Caroline had a feeling that the other blonde wasn’t the type of woman to mince words, and what she said next was proof of that.  “I’ve met your kind before.  The truly Silent ones.  And none of them would have ever tried to offer comfort like that.”

               “I am Silent,” Caroline replied automatically.

               “You don’t strike me as stupid or naïve, Arrow.  And that statement is both” – Rebekah turned away, leaving Caroline utterly gobsmacked, with no idea how to reply.  She paused after a few steps, shooting a haughty look over her shoulder – “if you happen to be around the children in the White Zone, you can make Henrik fly so long as there’s another pack adult around.”

               Caroline stared into the back of Rebekah’s head, wishing she had the telepathic ability to see into another’s mind.  Not that it would help with the natural shields of a Changeling, but Caroline had no idea what to make of Klaus’ sister.

               “I don’t understand her,” Caroline said at last.  Enzo laughed, but Klaus just stroked a hand down Caroline’s braid, making her shiver.

               “Yes you do, Love.  That’s what has you so confused.”

\---

               It had been an idyllic retreat from reality, the lunch that threw Caroline so off balance.  Klaus wondered if she knew how expressive her eyes were, even when she managed to keep her face passive.

               They flashed with her thoughts and emotion, and Klaus _knew_ her Silence was fractured beyond repair… he just needed to convince her to shed off the last shreds she tried to wrap herself in.

               But with Rebekah’s retreat with Henrik, his little Psy seemed to fold into herself and become all business.

               “How will we find Bonnie?” she asked, carefully wiping her fingers clean on a napkin.  “I was taught search and retrieval methods, but I imagine your people have the upper hand on tracking with their sense of smell.”

               Klaus glanced at Enzo, and it was a testament to how long they had known each other that the Lieutenant didn’t need words.  He simply got to his feet and silently left.  The man was the best tracker the pack had to offer.  He would arrange the patrols.

               “I’m going to help, Klaus,” Caroline said, looking after Enzo.  “Because you might have your sense of smell, but I also have my sense of _Bonnie_.”

               “A sense that is clearly weakened somehow,” Klaus shot back, knowing that he had hit a bullseye with the assumption when Caroline remained resolutely silent.  “If you get anything from her that can give us help, then we’ll use it.  But if you want to find your… _E_ , then you need to try something, Love.  It’s called _trust_.”

               “This has nothing to do with _trust_ ,” Caroline responded with the cold mask of Silence, pushing to her feet, but her eyes told him that if she could spit fire, she would be.  “And even if it did, why would I trust you?  I told you, I know what your pack does to Psy.  How can I be sure that won’t be Bonnie’s fate if I’m not there when she’s found?”

               “Because that would hurt you,” Klaus replied shortly.  “And you _know_ that.  You’re just too terrified of what that knowing means to acknowledge it.”

               Klaus got to his feet as well, an attempt to intimidate her into submission.  Despite there only be a couple of inches difference in their height, the power and responsibility of being Alpha had always assisted Klaus in _appearing_ larger than he was.  But that didn’t matter, to Caroline, who just looked back at him with a proud tilt of her head.

               “And I told you, I can’t give you what you want.”

               “I think you believe that,” Klaus replied.  “I plan to prove you wrong.”

               For a moment, he thought she might kiss him – just like he thought she might earlier, when she had curled into his side and he had sworn she had been _shivering_ , like a rabbit terrified of a hunter.  But whatever had caused that earlier fear had been shoved away, pushed behind the barrier of her “Silence,” and he could all but see her shoving the urge to kiss him away to that same thing.

               “The Arrows are allowed to break Silence, to form romantic attachments,” he said to her back when she began to stride after Enzo.  She froze at his words.  “You can hardly turn around without hearing tales of your leader and the woman that he calls his own.  Yet you say you can’t break your Silence.  Why?  You’re young still.  It should be easy for you, in comparison to others.”

               “Silence was created for a reason, Klaus.  It was flawed, but well intended.  It was meant to stop insanity” – Caroline still didn’t look at him, but he didn’t need to see her face to know that she was feeling something.  The way her fists clenched, though he didn’t think she realized they did, told him as much – “my father was a sociopath, and the one good thing to come from Ming Le Bon’s command of the Squad was the mission that killed him.  And my mother…”

               She trailed off and shook her head, and began to walk once more.  But Klaus wasn’t the type to let anyone, much less his _mate_ , walk away from him.  So he was at her side in a quick move, his hand on her wrist bringing her to a halt.

               “Your mother, Love?” he asked, angling his head to see her face, but she kept it turned away from him.

               “My mother is no one.  Just another broken Psy.  But they are in me, Klaus.  A monster and… _my mother_.  They’re in me, and I won’t risk breaking Silence and finding out that I was one of the monsters it was meant to stop.”

               He didn’t believe she was – she didn’t have that metallic scent… but he couldn’t forget, either, the destruction that an insane Psy could wrought.

               His entire world had been destroyed by the very monsters Caroline feared she could become.  His hand fell from her wrist.  Caroline looked down to where the contact had broken.  He couldn’t see her expression, but there was something in her stillness that made him want to touch her again.  That made him want to tell her that he didn’t believe her capable of that sort of monstrosity.

               Instead, he clenched his fingers into a fist at his side, and let her go to find Enzo and the patrols that he would be running.

               The wolf growled and clawed at his skin, demanding that they give their mate comfort, but the man forced himself to _think_ – not as a man yearning for his mate, but as an Alpha that needed to protect his pack.

               Yet separating man and Alpha was impossible, and all he was left with was a looming emptiness that he wasn’t sure would ever be filled.

\---

               Elijah Mikaelson had been drafted into the Arrow Squad as a child of four, when he had crushed his elder brother’s femur in a rare fit of pique.  Truly, the squad hadn’t been that different than living under the cold control of his father, and falling into line as an Arrow had been surprisingly easy.  Ming had commented more than once that Elijah had appeared born to be an Arrow, and Elijah had been unable to disagree.

               Not that, at the time, he had wanted to.  He had been perfect in his Silence, almost to the point where Elijah knew that Aden worried that he was one of the ones they might lose. 

               If he’d had a weakness, it had been Caroline, who had always seemed too young, too _delicate_ for the missions they had been entrusted with.  Of course, Caroline’s delicacy had been a clever ruse, but it had been an effective one that Elijah had always respected.

               He hadn’t realized that the weakness he felt for the girl might be showing itself as emotion until Bonnie Bennet went missing and he had assisted Caroline, even knowing that the Squad leadership would not approve.  It hadn’t been for Bonnie. The E was kind, of course, and Elijah respected her for the protection the weak bond between them offered him from the disease that could otherwise drive him mad, but he wasn’t overly attached beyond that respect.

               No, it had been because he had never seen Caroline so distraught.  Elijah knew that the young woman liked to believe herself still mostly Silent, but he knew that she was one of the ones that could make it in this new world, if she would just let herself.

               But Bonnie dying?  It would sever whatever emotional ties Caroline was beginning to form, and he didn’t know how he knew Caroline wasn’t made for Silence… he simply knew it was so.

               “Have you heard from her?”

               Elijah bowed his head slightly in greeting to the man that had appeared beside him.  Vasic’s Slavic features appeared harsh at the moment, but Elijah had seen love light up the other man’s eyes and render those same features approachable in the presence of his Ivy.

               “No.  But it’s possible that this RiverForest Alpha won’t let her contact us, lest she give us visuals to enter their land.”

               It set Elijah on edge, to think of Caroline being at the mercy of the vicious Changeling pack.  He had asked Aden for permission to infiltrate the den and get his partner out, but Aden had been adamant that they not interfere… and edict that hadn’t sat well with Elijah.

               “We’re not supposed to abandon our own,” he said to Vasic now, giving voice for the first time to what bothered him.  “Yet Aden just leaves her there.”

               “I was in the comm meeting with the wolves, and I’ve been around enough Changelings, to know what she is to him. She is the Alpha’s mate,” Vasic replied slowly, obviously choosing his words very carefully.  “And… Ivy told me once, that Caroline walks a razor’s edge.  On one side, emotion, the other, Silence.  And at the hub of that is Bonnie.  She needs to save her friend, Elijah.  But if this Niklaus is her mate?  Then to truly break her Silence, she will need him as well.”

               “We should help her, should we not?”

               Vasic shot Elijah a raised brow look, and Elijah looked back without humor, realizing almost immediately the lack of logic in his words.

               “We won’t be welcome.”

               “They would probably attempt to tear us apart,” Vasic agreed.  “RiverForest has yet to sign the Trinity Accords, though Hawke Snow works on convincing them to.  Thus, we have no level of alliance with them.”  Vasic stopped, and Elijah stopped as well.  When the other man reached out and put his hand on Elijah’s shoulder, he looked down at it, not sure how to respond to the contact.  “She will be safe, Elijah.  All things considered, it is very likely there is nowhere on this planet that Caroline Forbes would be safer.”

               Vasic’s hand dropped away, and his eyes went distant for a moment, the tiny smile that curved his lips telling Elijah that he was speaking to his Ivy.

               “You should go to her,” Elijah said, drawing Vasic’s attention once more.  There was a burning in his chest, and the cause of it confused him.  He thought it might be jealousy, but such a thing went against his declaration of Silence.  “I will be fine.”

               “You should come to the cabin for a meal,” Vasic countered.  “You know you’re always welcome.”

               Elijah gave a sharp nod, because it was a simple truth for the squad now, that they would always be welcome in the home Vasic shared with his Empath.  It was something Ivy had made very clear.

               Elijah had gone before, found peace in the forest, and even in playing fetch with their small dog, Rabbit. 

               Vasic disappeared once more, and Elijah was left to his troubling thoughts.  He might have felt something close to relief, when the phone he had purchased for himself gave a beep.  It was for personal use – Ivy thought all the Arrows should have personal items, though Elijah didn’t know many outside of the squad that he would call.

               He looked at the screen for a long moment.

               To anyone else, his expression would remain impassive, but on the ground, several pebbles rose into the air, and were crushed into dust that floated to the ground.

               On the screen was a simple picture – one of a manor house that Elijah hadn’t thought of in decades, but that he recognized without thought.

               Elijah, it appeared, was being summoned by a dead man.

\---

               “There’s nothing here.”

               Caroline ignored the statement in favor of engaging all of her tracking skills to see if she could see any sign of intruders in the area.

               “Caroline, I’m a wolf… if I don’t smell it, it wasn’t _here_.”

               Caroline looked back at Katherine, who crossed her arms, her expression unimpressed.

               “I managed to elude your sense of smell by wading through the river.  Other Psy could do the same,” she pointed out practically.  “Relying entirely on a single sense makes it far too easy to overlook important tracking signs.”

               “Yes… but those signs aren’t here either.  This isn’t my first rodeo, Sweetheart.”

               “You dislike me,” Caroline commented.  “Is that why you were assigned to work with me?  Because you wouldn’t hesitate to take me out if I tried to flee?”

               “If you were a danger, you would have already opened up my throat and run away” – Caroline didn’t say anything to Katherine’s statement, which the other woman apparently took as an admission of the truth – “So no, I wasn’t assigned to work with you to take you out.  I was assigned to you because you’re our Alpha’s mate, and since Enzo needs to stay at the Den to work as HQ during this search, I’m the only one he trusts to keep you safe.”

               Katherine walked further into the forest, pausing to sniff the air for a moment.  They had begun their search at the spot where she had picked up the Psy scent earlier, but it had been lost to the river.  Now they were searching for another hint, but so far there had been nothing.

               “Nothing on the E bond?” Katherine demanded, looking over her shoulder.

               “It’s not like a mating bond.  That I felt anything from Bonnie… it means she was in extreme distress,” Caroline replied stiffly.  Katherine didn’t comment on her stilted tone however, and Caroline wondered if the woman could somehow tell how close she was to the edge.  “Maybe I’m being foolish, thinking that she must still be alive.  The bond has never been closed off like this.”

               “What does your instinct tell you?” Katherine asked.

               “Instinct doesn’t exist in Silence-”

               “Bullshit.  You _knew_ that you were Klaus’ mate without him having to tell you, without you feeling the pull of the Mating Dance.  I was in the infirmary, and he was doing a pretty damn spectacular job of keeping it hidden.  But you _knew_.  That was instinct.  And I’d bet you’ve used it every time you’ve gone out to kill someone.  So tell me… what does your instinct tell you?”

               The properly Silent thing would be to say, once more, that she was Silent and move on.  But Katherine wasn’t a Psy, to take such a response without argument, and even if Caroline tried…

               “She’s alive,” she replied resolutely.  Because Katherine wasn’t _wrong_.  For all that they called it repetitive training, no Arrow survived without good _instinct_ , and calling it by a different name didn’t change what it was.  “I would know if she was dead.”

               “Then let’s stop talking and keep looking.”

               Katherine began to move through the forest once more, and Caroline fell into step next to her, gaze watching their surroundings closely.  She looked up, into the branches, and paused.  At first, she didn’t know what it was that had caught her attention, just that there was _something_. She prepared her powers to give herself a boost, but then paused.  Psy were always wary of the ability of other Psy, and if whatever was on that branch was sensitive to psychic abilities, she didn’t want to set it off.  Instead, she reached out and grasped Katherine’s wrist.  The Changeling froze, and Caroline immediately retracted her and, very aware she didn’t have skin privileges.  At Katherine’s glare, she simply pointed at the branch.

               “Boost me up there.”

               Katherine frowned and looked ready to question her, but in the end showed Caroline surprising level of trust and didn’t ask any of them.  She cupped her hands and used them to boost Caroline up, so she could grab a branch and pull herself up.  She avoided using her Tk to help her balance, but even without the powers, she had the natural grace that all Psy of her designation seemed to have, and easily walked along the branch.

               “If you fall, Klaus will kill me, you know that, right?”

               Caroline ignored Katherine’s call, instead kneeling on the branch.  Embedded in the wood was a tiny micro camera.  Caroline would have never noticed, except that the sunlight had filtered down just right, to cause the smallest of glints off of its metallic surface.  Caroline pulled a pocket knife out of her boot and carefully pried it out. A quick inspect showed it was a simple device, of a make that wouldn’t be able to sense psychic powers, but that was instead set off by movement.  She pocketed it, and then leapt off the branch.

               “Holy shi – never mind.”

               Caroline raised her brows at Katherine’s frantic response as she used her powers to soften her landing.  She pulled out the micro camera and offered it up.

               “They’ve been using the trees.  PurePsy did the same to the SnowDancer wolves.”

               “You’d think we’d be better at learning our lessons, wouldn’t you?” Katherine looked at the camera, then up into the trees. Her express turned rueful, the type of look that said she wasn’t looking forward to what came next.  “I guess we’ll be trying a different form of hunting.  How much weight can your Tk lift?”

               Katherine made a call to the den, to tell Enzo of their find and to get assistance sent to their sector. It wasn’t long before they were joined by other wolves, and Caroline spent the next 4 hours lifting wolves into trees.  It might have been amusing, if Caroline didn’t feel as though there were a timer ticking on Bonnie’s life.

               “How many?”

               The presence at her back was warm and steady, and Caroline was tired enough that she leaned into Klaus’ body before she could think twice of her action.  When she would have moved away, he wrapped an arm around her waist, and nuzzled his nose into her neck.

               “At least a dozen that I know of,” Caroline replied.  She allowed him to hold her for a moment longer, and then pushed out of his arms.  She expected him to try and hold her to him, but instead his arms dropped.  She tried to keep her expression smooth as she looked at him, but she could feel the smallest of furrows between her brows; confusion at how easily he had released her.  “There may have been more further out.  They’ve been watching your pack.”

               “I know,” Klaus voice was serious, and Caroline searched his expression for hints at his thoughts.  She thought that might be anger shining in his eyes, or maybe frustration. “It looks like you’re getting what you want.  Finding these Psy – and your friend – just became the main priority of the pack.”

               The forest felt colder, without his arms around her. There was a distance in his eyes, one that had started during their conversation after lunch, and that seemed to grow with this new revelation of Psy encroachment on their territory.  She didn’t ask him what they would do when they found the ones that had put the cameras in their territory.

               She had been a killer long enough to know.

 


	7. Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this one, we get forward progress both with Klaroline and with the plot. Excitement!

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

               Klaus looked up from the email from Selenka Durev in Russia.  Apparently Hawke had convinced the BlackEdge Alpha to join him in convincing RiverForest to join the Trinity Accords.  Katherine and Enzo had both been subtly hinting that it might be a good idea, but Klaus had been remaining stubborn.  With Caroline’s entrance into his life… well, the wolf rubbed against his skin and wondered if she’d like to see his signature on the treaty.

               But Klaus doubted that any of that was why Rebekah had burst into his office.

               “Little sister… nice of you to knock.  Can I be of assistance?”

               “Three days, Nik,” Rebekah replied, coming in to perch on the edge of his desk.  “Three days, and you’ve hardly touched your mate.  So I repeat: what the hell do you think you’re doing?”

               “I was being an Alpha,” Klaus replied, a growl rumbling in his throat.  He was quite aware of how little contact there had been between him and Caroline.  But touching her made him want to lose himself in her, and if he did that he would be thinking of _her_ , not the wellbeing of his pack.  “It’s my duty to assess threats.”

               But the lack of touch had left both man and wolf on edge, and it had given Caroline far too much time to once again surround herself in a shroud of Silence.  Every time he saw her walking with that blank mask on, he wanted to stroke her until she had no choice but to lose herself to emotion – _to him_.

               “It is,” Rebekah agreed far too pleasantly. “Unless, of course, the threat is your _mate_.  Then it’s up to your Lieutenants.  It’s thrown Katherine off, that you’ve been so distant when she was very much prepared to be the one to play protector of the pack.”

               “If she’s been rude to her-” Klaus began, getting to his feet so quickly that his chair tumbled over.  He cut off when Rebekah just crossed her arms and smirked.  Klaus sighed and righted his chair, sitting in it and running a hand through his hair.  “I’m surprised you’re the one here, Bekah.  I thought you were wary of my little Psy.”

               “I was rightfully nervous when I heard that my mate and my brother were allowing an unknown Psy to use her abilities on my son,” Rebekah replied easily.  “And I’m hardly BFFs with the girl, Nik.  She has horrendous fashion sense, and Enzo informs me she’s an utter control freak.  But when she’s not out ordering your soldiers around on this search, she’s in the White Zone with the children. That girl can very likely kill in the most brutal of fashions… but it’s also apparent that she would use every one of those methods on anyone that even _thought_ of harming a pup.”

               “You like her,” Klaus said, a smile curving his lips, and Rebekah scoffed and tossed her hair.

               “Were you not listening to me?  I just _said_ that I didn’t.”

               Klaus just continued to smirk and Rebekah slid off the desk and came around to touch his shoulder and press a kiss to his hair.

               “But whether or not I like her doesn’t matter.  Your wolf is growing restless, and the pack is beginning to sense it.  Katherine is making Caroline take a break… _go to her_.”

               Maybe it was hearing it from his sister… or maybe it was that his sister was a Maternal Dominate giving him permission to follow his heart; either way, Rebekah’s words destroyed the tenuous leash he’d put on his wolf, and he was on his feet and out the door in a shot. 

               “Should I shut down your laptop?” Rebekah called after him, but Klaus just waved a hand, his senses already on the alert for Caroline’s citrus scent.

               She was in the White Zone, which, given Rebekah’s words, wasn’t surprising.  She was overseeing a football game with the five to seven ear olds, the players in a mix of human and wolf form, chasing the ball around.  It rolled over to Caroline’s feet at one point, and she took her time in kicking it back to the players, so that they could jump on her, taking her to the ground.  There were childish giggles as several tiny forms were lifted off of her.  Klaus’ gaze went over to Sage, the other adult on duty, who smiled at him as he joined her.

               “She’s excellent with the children,” the healer said as Klaus leaned against a tree to watch the game.  “A natural maternal, though I imagine she would claim that she’s not capable of such a thing.”

               “She mentioned Arrow children,” Klaus replied, watching in fascination as Caroline carefully righted one of the children and then nudged the ball with her foot, sending the game into action once more.  One of the players, a young brunette girl, remained at Caroline’s side.  She hugged her arm around Caroline’s leg, and the blonde’s response was to just rest her hand on top of the girl’s hair and continue watching the game.  “It made me wonder what such children would be like.”

               Caroline would have been one of those Arrow children once; not so very long ago, really.  And whatever she had learned had taught her to be cold enough that she could slit her own throat.

               The thought made a growl rise in the back of Klaus’ throat, and Sage gave him a concerned look.

               “Go to your mate,” she advised.  “You’ll feel better, after you’ve had contact.”

               Klaus didn’t say anything at first, but Caroline had finally noticed his presence and was shooting him quick glances that belied a certain level of discomfort.  It made Klaus smirk.  _Good_ , he liked that his presence put his little mate off balance. 

               Finally taking the advice of the admirably wise women around him, Klaus crossed the distance between them to join Caroline and her small companion.  He went to a knee next to the girl.

               “Now, why aren’t you playing?” he asked her.

               “I like hugging Caroline,” the girl replied, her voice muffled slightly by Caroline’s jean clad leg.  The girl shot a look at the Arrow, then looked back at Klaus and leaned toward him.  “She smells really nice.”

               Caroline kept her gaze on the game, but he saw her eyes flicker, the corner of lips quirking just slightly.  Klaus on the other hand chuckled and opened his arms to the girl, who happily let him pick her up.

               “I agree with you,” he said, lowering his voice as though trying to keep the conversation secret, but making sure Caroline heard.  “But I’m going to be stealing her from you for a bit.  Would you mind hugging Sage instead?”

               The girl thought about it for a moment, and finally nodded.

               “Sage smells nice, too.”

               Klaus put her down once more, and allowed her to rush towards the Healer, before turning his gaze back to Caroline, who had given up pretending to keep her attention solely on the children in order to watch him warily. 

               “I have not seen you much,” she said after a beat of silence between them.  “I hope everything is okay.”

               “The life of an Alpha.  Enzo tells me that you’ve been ordering the entire pack around searching for your Bonnie.”

               “They caught a scent yesterday,” Caroline replied, her fingers curving into fists.  “We’ve narrowed it down, to an outer area of your territory.  But they’ve covered their tracks quite well.  I planned to do a psychic search today...”

               “But Katherine made you take a break.  Rebekah told me,” he explained; when she looked at him, surprise a glint in her eyes.  He reached out his hand to take her wrist gently and lifted it, so he could ease her fingers out of the fist. 

               “You shouldn’t touch me,” Caroline said softly, when he began to trace her palm with gentle fingers.  “We have discussed this.  You have a pack-”

               “We did discuss it.  And after some time spent ruminating on the topic, I’ve decided that I’m going to pursue you despite the differences you believe are insurmountable.”  He looked at her and knew his smile was that of a wolf on the hunt.  “I feel it’s only fair that I warn you of my intentions.”

               Lifting her palm, he pressed a warm kiss to the center of her palm.  She swallowed, her gaze still not moving from him, but her eyes had darkened, and Klaus knew enough of bodily cues, even from the Silent, to be able to tell that she was in pain.

               “Why do you hurt?” he asked, letting her hand fall.  Caroline’s lips tightened and she looked away, resolutely silent.  “You can tell me, Caroline, or I can call Hawke… or your leader.  Aden, correct?”

               “He wouldn’t tell you anything,” Caroline replied automatically, but Klaus just raised a brow.  She let out the tiniest of huffs, and Klaus had to bite back a smirk at the sign of emotion.  “Dissonance.  It’s a conditioning process, to make me feel pain with emotion.  It prevents me from reaching the critical point, where I lose control of my powers.”

               “It can’t be necessary-”

               “It is.”

               “Judd Lauren, Kaleb Krychek… even your fellow Arrows.  I know there have been emotional bonds formed.  _Everyone_ knows.”

               “I am not them,” Caroline replied, her spine going stiff.  “It is necessary.”

               She turned on her heel to walk away, but Klaus wasn’t done yet.  His mate couldn’t put this distance between them… not when he _knew_ that Tk Psy could safely show emotion, could _mate_ and live happy, full lives. 

               “Don’t walk away from me,” he ordered, rapid steps bringing him in front of her, making Caroline come up short before she ran into him.

               “Don’t tell me what to do!” Caroline replied, the words coming out in cool tones, but very much those of a woman irate.

               “You two need to take this somewhere else,” Sage told them.  When they both looked at the red head, she nodded towards the game.  “You’re disrupting the little ones.”

               The reminder that they were surrounded by tiny ears had the pair looking over at the game.  It had come to a stand-still, avid eyes watching the interplay between the Alpha and Caroline.  Klaus felt an uncomfortable heat in his cheeks, and turned his gaze away from everyone; he grabbed her wrist and tugged her behind her into the den.

               “Where are you taking me?” Caroline demanded.  Klaus didn’t reply, and growled when the lack of response had Caroline digging her heels into the floor to bring their movement to a stop.

               “We’re going to my office, Caroline,” Klaus explained with exaggerated patience.  “We need to talk, you and I.”

               “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Caroline retorted, trying to tug her wrist away from Klaus.  He just raised a brow and maintained his hold.  Caroline gave the tiniest of growls – a little sound that went straight to Klaus’ groin and appealed to the wolf prowling under his skin.  “We’re better off continuing as we have been for the past three days.  Once Bonnie is found, we’ll be on our way, and our lives can return to the way they were.”

               “Do you truly want that?” Klaus demanded, dropping her wrist, but stepping close, so that her breasts touched his chest every time she inhaled.  She glanced around the den corridor, clearly looking for an escape, but there was no one else around.

               If they were smart, they would stay scarce.

               “I… want has nothing to do with this,” Caroline said at last, her entire body stiff.  “I don’t _want_ anything.”

               “Because you’re Silent?” Klaus replied, his voice dangerously soft.  He leaned toward her, until their bodies were actually pressed together.  “Because you feel nothing, and if you feel nothing, then you can’t want anything?”

               “Yes,” she whispered.

               “Liar,” he breathed in return.

               He wasn’t sure what he expected to come out of the argument, but it wasn’t Caroline’s hands sliding into his hair and tugging him in to press her lips to his.  It was awkward at first – more a mashing of the lips than anything.  The wolf huffed in amusement at Caroline trying to take control, because his little Arrow had no idea what she was doing.

               So Klaus cupped the back of her neck and angled his head, changing the kiss.  He teased her lips open, so he could slide his tongue inside and run it along her own.  Caroline gasped against his mouth, and Klaus smirked into the kiss, turning them and walking her backwards, so that her back hit the wall of the hall.

               Caroline tugged sharply on his hair and copied his movements with her own lips and tongue.  Her fingernails scraping his scalp made him growl and thrust himself against her.  She moaned in response.  Klaus finally had to break away for a moment, so they could both take desperate gasps of air, but then Caroline pulled him right back in, and Klaus went without a second thought.  All that consumed his mind was the feel of her under his hands.  It were as though he’d spent months hungering for the touch of skin, even though that wasn’t true.

               He felt a sharp pain slash across his bicep, and then found himself shoved away from her, not physically, but by Caroline’s telekinesis.  He looked at her, his teeth already bared in a snarl, and then froze.

               Caroline was gasping for breath, her fingers gripping the stone of the wall, her eyes gone an eerie, all consuming black.

               “Caroline-” he began.

               “I can’t do this,” she blurted out, stumbling down the hall away from him.  “I can’t be here.”

               He would have gone after her, except that her wild gaze had fallen to his arm before she left, and when he looked there himself, he saw that a thin but deep cut had been sliced into his skin, the blood falling down his arm in a thin line.

               He wouldn’t allow Caroline to run from him… but if he was to understand exactly what he was up against, then he would need to talk to Hawke’s pet Telekinetic.

\---

               “Gorgeous, what are you doing here?”

               “You can put me in contact with Aden, right?  With that communication screen… I can call home.”

               Caroline knew she had to look wild.  Her heart was still racing, her breath uneven, and she needed to talk to her leader.  She needed to talk to Aden, who would help her ground herself again, help her find her Silence.  He might not like it, but if she asked, he would help her.

               “Gorgeous, what happened?” Enzo demanded, taking a step around his desk towards her, but Caroline stumbled back, shaking her head.

               “Don’t.  I’m not… everything is off balance.  I might hurt you.”

               She didn’t _think_ she would.  Her powers had lashed out at Klaus, but she thought she had them under control now.  But she was just so… she couldn’t be sure.  Not with how out of balance she felt.

               “Please, Enzo,” she said at last.  “I need to talk to Aden.”

               Less than five minutes later, she was looking into Aden’s dark, solemn eyes.  She knew that Zaira was probably close by, but unless Caroline requested she be there as well, Aden would keep her confidence.

               “Have they hurt you?” he asked. It helped calm Caroline, to know that Aden was out there, caring for her health and happiness, and being genuine in his concern for her.

               “I – no,” she said, shaking her hair and raising a hand to run it through her hair.  She paused when it was before her eyes, because it was shaking.  Instead, she dropped it to the tabletop.  “They have been treating me with great respect.  I just…” she shot a look towards the hall, where Enzo had retreated to give her the illusion of privacy, but she knew he could still here.  Still, she lowered her voice and leaned in.  “Niklaus thinks I’m his mate, Aden.”

               “And you?” the commander of the Arrows responded.  “What do you think.”

               Caroline rocked back in her seat and stared at Aden.  She thought of Klaus’ mouth on her own, of the way he cupped her neck, the way his body had moved against hers and made her _want_.

               “I’m Silent,” she replied, a weak response, even to her own ears.

               “Silence is no longer a mandate, Caroline.  You are allowed to break it” – Aden leaned forward, his gaze earnest on hers – “I _want_ you to break it. If this Niklaus can give you what Zaira gives me-”

               “I can’t, Aden,” Caroline blurted out, desperation choking her.  “You know I can’t.  _Why_ I can’t.”

               Silence fell between them, both of them thinking of the legacy that lived in Caroline’s veins.

               _A father that lived to kill._

_A mother that had killed herself rather than live._

And Caroline, the result of their union.

               “We aren’t our parents, Caroline.”

               “Maybe not,” Caroline replied.  She closed her eyes and took deep breaths until she could feel her racing heart and breathing begin to calm.  When she felt more herself, she opened her eyes again.  “Maybe not… but genetics tell us that the progeny of insanity are far more likely to be insane themselves.”

               “Do you need us to get you out?”

               They would, she knew.  Even if it started a war with RiverForest, even if it caused fractures with other Changeling packs… Aden would send Vasic in to retrieve her.  Because you didn’t leave another Arrow behind.

               And it would destroy what Aden had worked so hard for – the peace that the older Arrows had earned, the childhood that the younger Arrows _deserved_.

               And Bonnie would remain missing.

               “I have to find Bonnie,” she said, her voice empty of any inflection.  “And I shouldn’t keep you any longer.”

               “Caroline,” Aden’s voice was serious and its tone made Caroline pay attention.  “You are not insane, and you’re not a sociopath.  You deserve a life outside of what Ming made you into.  Don’t let fear stop you.”

               “Good-bye, Aden,” Caroline said again.

               She remained staring at the black screen for several minutes before Enzo joined her once more.  He glanced at the blank screen, and then at Caroline, and she thought he might ask her questions she had no way of answering, except that his phone went off.  She couldn’t understand much from the one sided conversation, but when he hung up, his expression was grim.

               “The day off is being cut short, Gorgeous.  We have a scent, and Katherine wants us to join her.”

               Caroline nodded, letting herself slide back into the mindset of a hunter.  That was the life she knew, the life she was comfortable with.

               Despite that thought, when she licked her lips, she swore she could still taste Klaus.

\---

               “You are meant to be dead.”

               Elijah watched the man he had once called father with cold eyes.  He was supposed to be dead – his dark proclivities getting both him and Elijah’s elder brother killed by the Arrow Squad.  It was probably foolishness, to come here alone… but if Elijah had one fracture in his Silence, it was curiosity.

               “Are you not pleased that your father still lives?”

               Elijah said nothing, but his silence said far more than any words could.  Mikael might be his father genetically, but he had signed away all rights to his younger son, when he had allowed the Arrow Squad to take him away. 

               Elijah had never known a father, not truly. He had vague memories of this house – a monolith to the Mikaelson name – and he wondered if that was why Mikael had summoned him here, to try and gain the upper hand. 

               “I made an error, signing you away to the Arrow Squad,” Mikael said at last, when it was clear Elijah would not be carrying the conversation.  “You have an incredibly useful skillset, and it was a mistake to allow it to be taken from the family.”

               “Errors cannot be undone, and my loyalty is to my Squad,” Elijah replied.  He stared into eyes he could vaguely remember from his childhood, and knew that he would have to give this man over to Aden, who would decide his punishment.

               _A dangerous sociopath, one far too curious for the good of the Psy._

               Elijah knew Mikael’s file inside and out… and yet he felt some hesitancy. Was this misplaced familial loyalty?  The type Elijah had heard of amongst humans and Changelings, yet never understood?

               “You should run,” he said, the best he could offer the father that sired him.  “Arrows will be sent to apprehend you within the next twenty-four hours.”

               “No, Elijah.  They won’t.”

               Elijah didn’t hear a sound, so his eyes widened in shock when he felt the prick of a syringe in his neck.  He spun around to attack, but already the drug in his system was making him slow and throwing off his aim.

               Not that it would have helped.  When he saw the plain features of the man behind him, Elijah knew true fear for the first time since achieving Silence.

               So many things Elijah wanted say – accusations and curses he had heard from Changelings.  But none of them would come.  Instead, he managed to get out one strangled name.

               “Caroline.”

               “Don’t worry,” the man promised him.  “Caroline will join us before long.”

\---

               The doors opened and Bonnie blinked when she saw Kol looking at her.

               “Are you okay?” she asked.

               The Silent Changeling came to her side and kneeled next to her, his eyes darting over.  Her head ached, and her tongue felt heavy.  Kol held up a water bottle, which Bonnie took and drank hungrily.

               “Slow down,” Kol told her, tugging the bottle from her grip even as she tried to clutch it tighter.  “You’ll make yourself ill.”

               “Why do you care?” Bonnie asked, and Kol’s gaze went blank for a moment, and then confused.

               “Father needs you,” he replied, but he didn’t look at all certain of that.

               “I don’t think that’s true,” Bonnie replied, and she reached out to cup his cheeks.  He held such pain inside of him, this Changeling forced into such an unnatural state, and everything in Bonnie wanted to take that pain away.

               She found herself gathering the pain, tugging it away, Kol recoiled violently, his eyes flashing amber and an animalistic growl coming from his throat.

               “Don’t touch me!” he snapped.

               Bonnie clenched her jaw, but any comeback she may have made was cut short when Finn appeared in the doorway and unceremoniously dumped an unconscious form onto the floor.

               “If he awakens, let father know,” the Psy ordered Kol.  He gave Bonnie one uninterested glance, and then turned and left.  The door remained open behind him, and light shone onto the unconscious man’s face. 

               “Elijah!” Bonnie yelped, recognizing the features of the Arrow that had connected to her on the emotional honeycomb of the ‘Net.  She managed to stumble her way to him, and carefully picked up his head to put it in her lap.  She didn’t feel any emotional distress, but she also couldn’t feel him as clearly as she would have, had she still been connected to the ‘Net.

               “You know him,” Kol observed, and when Bonnie looked at him, his eyes still shone amber.

               “Yes,” Bonnie replied, stroking Elijahs’ hair softly.  “He’s a good man.”

               And he was, a man that was loyal to the Arrow Squad in general, and Caroline in particular.  Their bond might be because of the girl whose loyalty they shared, but anyone that could see how very special Bonnie’s best friend was, was a good man her books.

               “You care about him,” Kol said again, his voice more wolf than human, and Bonnie frowned at him, her brow furrowing.

               “What’s wrong?”

               “Stop touching him.”

               Bonnie thought to argue, but Kol’s fingernails had become claws.  She slowly and carefully extracted herself from beneath Elijah, making sure to rest his head softly on the floor.  Then she retreated next to Kol in the shadows.  His clawed hand reached out, and Bonnie found her hand in his hair. 

               She swallowed, and slowly began to stroke.  After several minutes, the glow of his eyes faded, but still he didn’t move.  A low grumble came from his throat, a response to Bonnie’s touch, and she felt her breath catch.

               Their eyes caught for a long moment, and Bonnie’s hand stilled as she stared at the Changeling.  Finally, he got to his feet, saying nothing as he left.

               Bonnie didn’t breathe again until she was left in the dark silence of the cell with Elijah.

 


	8. Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another week, another chapter. In this one, the plot continues to thicken.

 

               “This is the River Forest border,” Caroline said, and then frowned in confusion when Enzo didn’t stop the Hummer. 

               “Our destination is in dead territory – land between our pack and the next one over.  Grayson’s people think they have something.”

               “I thought you said we were joining Katherine.”

               “We are” – Enzo shot her an easy grin, and gave a chuckle when Caroline just stared at him – “Kat’s Uncle is the Alpha of RussetHill.  Grayson Gilbert.  When they caught a scent, he contacted Kat – Gorgeous, what’s wrong?”

               Caroline knew she had probably gone pale, but she was unable to keep from reacting.  She had known, of course, the exact location of RiverForest.  She had studied the maps – knew the exact distance between wolf territory and the foxes of RussetHill.

               And she had very deliberately begun her search away from the border… and perhaps that had been a foolish dream; to hope that her search wouldn’t drag her to the one place she didn’t want to go.

               “Gorgeous-”

               “We have company,” Caroline interrupted as they pulled down the drive to a large manor.  A dark haired man with incredibly blue eyes awaited them.

               “Damn,” Enzo muttered as he put the van in park and frowned at the other man – a Changeling, by his brain patterns.  “I was hoping Grayson would bring another Deputy. Whatever he says, ignore it.  Damon is an idiot.”

               Caroline quirked her head, just biting back the question – _why don’t you like him?_ – before she climbed out as well.

               “So this is the company you’re keeping these days?” the dark haired man, Damon, asked with raised brows.  “And I thought you couldn’t do much worse than Rebekah.”

               Caroline surveyed the other man.  Any sense of Bonnie she had managed to uncover had come within the borders of RiverForest, so she hadn’t studied the RussetHill hierarchy.  Now she was regretting that, feeling off balance in the face of such hostility from an unknown.

               “Rebekah is fierce and attractive,” she said, drawing the gaze of both men to her.  “I don’t understand why you’d insult her.  Particularly to her mate.  It doesn’t seem intelligent.”

               “Trust a Psy not to understand the bas-”

               “Damon” – a man with dark hair and eyes exited the mansion.  Klaus and Katherine followed him, as well as a woman with auburn hair.  At the sound of his name, Damon’s teeth had clacked together and he’d fallen into silence – “don’t bait Enzo.  We’re not here to start a fight.”

               “Grayson,” Enzo greeted with a respectful duck of his head.  He clasped the RussetHill Alpha’s hand in a shake.  Klaus continued by the other Alpha and his Lieutenant to join Caroline.  Seeing him again reminded Caroline of their earlier kiss, and she very determinedly looked anywhere but at him.

               “Love,” Klaus greeted, and he tugged on a loose strand of her hair.  “Damon wasn’t being an utter bastard, was he?  I can have a… _discussion_ with him.”

               “You’re protecting one of _them_ ,” Damon spat out, his blue eyes flashing angrily.  “After what happened?  After the horror this place spawned!”

               His final words were accompanied with a flourish at the mansion, and Caroline found her gaze finally focusing on the giant, elegant elephant in the courtyard.  It felt like a struggle, to get breath into her lungs.  The house was an elegant work of art; a monument to a family that had once been at the height of prestige and reputation in the PsyNet.  They would still be now, except for one fatal flaw.

               _They got caught_.

               It took her a moment to realize that Klaus was replying to Damon, and it was almost a relief, to be able to drag her eyes from the mansion to listen to what he had to say.

               “- there was never any proof that the Mikaelsons had anything to do with the attack, Damon.”

               Caroline stiffened at those words.  Their meaning was perfectly logical, but there was a growl that spoke of old grief and rage underlying Klaus’ otherwise reasonable tone.  But it wasn’t that, that had Caroline stiffening.

               _There had been proof._

But it was never shared with anyone outside the Psy Council… and the Arrow Squad.  The Council hadn’t cared that Mikael was experimenting on Changelings, or even that he had slaughtered half a pack.  No, what had set the Council off, was that Mikael turned his eyes to experimenting on _Psy_ … and that they had been able to trace those acts back to this house.

               “Love?” Klaus asked, looking down at her with a frown.  Caroline tried to force her muscles to relax, but her body wouldn’t listen.  So instead she began to walk toward the manor.          

               “You think that Bonnie is here?” she asked.  Her voice was flat enough to fool Grayson and his people, all three of whom watched her with suspicion, but the RiverForest wolves knew her better, and both Lieutenants looked to Klaus for a response rather than answer her question.

               “We think that whoever has her, may have used this as a rendezvous point,” Klaus said slowly after a long beat of silence, in which Caroline silently willed him not to ask her questions, at least not in front of Grayson Gilbert and his people.  “No one’s lived in this place for five years, but there are fresh scents inside.”

               Caroline strode toward the doors that led into the mansion.  The woman with auburn hair looked ready to stop her.  Caroline almost wished she would.  She felt wound tight, as though she were standing on a precipice, and a physical attack from this stranger would give her an outlet.  Someone to attack.

               But instead, the woman glanced over Caroline’s shoulder at her Alpha and then stepped aside.  With no one else in her way, Caroline pushed the door open and stepped into the silence of the house. 

               “The scents were discovered in a sitting room upstairs,” the woman said from behind her, when Caroline’s feet immediately began to take her towards the right.  She almost continued walking anyway, a morbid curiosity drawing her towards the door and what she knew lay beyond it.

               Caroline imagined Bonnie, thought of the pain her friend might be in, and with a new focus, Caroline was able to forget what this house held.  It became just another building, just another potential answer.  She looked behind her at the wolves and foxes.

               “I don’t have your sense of smell,” she said after a beat of silence in which the Changelings waited her next move.  “One of you should lead the way.”

               It was Klaus that stepped forward, leading her up the steps.  His shirt was snug on his body, and Caroline watched the play of his muscles beneath the thin material.  It was another distraction from this house, and one she shouldn’t allow herself.  But for a moment, Caroline allowed herself to feel pleasure at watching the way he moved.  It sent a bolt of pain through her temples, but she welcomed that pain.

               Without it, she would float.  She would get lost in memory, and she would go back.  She would descend the steps and open that door and –

               “In here,” Klaus said, motioning her into the room.  Caroline stepped in and looked around.  The setup was meant to impress.  In here, she could see the proof that the Mikaelsons had once been considered powerful members of Psy society, though in the years since they had “disappeared,” they had become a cautionary tale.

               “What do you smell?” she asked, moving slowly into the room.  An elegant side table had been knocked over, and Caroline knelt next to it.  It was the only sign that anything was out of place, yet it was something that could have been righted so easily.  “They must have fled in a hurry.”

               “Jenna came through and gave Katherine a heads up that there was someone here.  Katherine heard voices” – Klaus’ eyes were dark with frustration at how close his Lieutenant had come to real answers – “but we have a scent now.  If we can catch it elsewhere, we can trace them.”

               “Was there a particular reason that you wanted me to come here?” Caroline asked.  As she stood up, she set the table upright as well.  Something about the disturbed piece of furniture disturbed _her_ , and it took a few moments of straightening until the table was in the exact right position.  When she finished she simply stared down at the surface, her hands resting on the glass.

               “Love… _Caroline_ …” She felt Klaus’ hand on her shoulder, and he applied pressure until she turned around to face him.  She looked up at him.  Her hands fell to the table behind her again, clutching it like a lifeline.  Klaus’ gaze searched hers, and he reached out, cupping her cheeks.  Caroline couldn’t find it in herself to back away from his touch.  “What is going on with you?”

               She was supposed to feel nothing.  She was Silent…

               Except she wasn’t.  The pains of dissonance cut into her temples, and Caroline closed her eyes, and rubbed her temples, ducking her head.

               And that’s when she felt something wet.

               “Caroline.”

               Once more, her face was held in his hands, and she opened her eyes to meet his.

               “The dissonance,” she said as his eyes widened at the sight of the blood coming from her nose.  “It’s damaging my neural pathways.”

               “How do we stop it?” Klaus demanded.  He released his grip on her, his hands falling to his pockets and digging through them. Caroline didn’t bother searching for a tissue and just used the collar of her shirt to stem the flow of blood.

               “We don’t stop it,” Caroline replied after cleaning the blood away.  She tilted her head back and closed her eyes, the pain still in her temples.  She stared at the roof and tried to focus on something other than where she was.  “Where are the others?”

               “They’re outside, searching for a trace of a scent,” Klaus replied.  He didn’t try to touch her again, and while the greater part of Caroline was grateful for that, the small part of her that wanted to toss Silence aside whispered for her to reach out and touch him. 

               Another pang in her temples reminded her why that would be a bad idea. 

               “What set it off?” Klaus asked her.

               It was on her lips, to tell Klaus the dissonance had been caused by him.  Changelings and humans felt such guilt; some of her earliest memories were of how to manipulate such things. 

               But despite all those lessons, she couldn’t lie to him about this.

               Instead, she remained silent until the flow of blood from her nose had ceased, and then walked out of the room. 

               “Caroline,” Klaus said, his voice taking on a hint of a growl.  Caroline didn’t stop, though.  She continued to walk, until they were once more in the entrance, and then she walked to the door that had caught her attention upon her first entrance.

               She didn’t know why she had expected it to be locked, but she had.  Surprise was a sharp jolt, as the door turned easily beneath her hand.  She had come this far, however, so she turned on the light and took the final step.

               The office was done in dark wood, with a hard wood floor.  It was a masculine room.  Caroline had never been in the room before, but she was intimately familiar with its layout.

               “This,” she said, walking to the wall to the right of the door.  She ran her fingers along the dark surface. “Is where they found my father’s blood spattered.”

               Her back was to Klaus, but somehow, she knew that her words had surprised him.  The wall was clean now, but she could remember as it had been in the pictures, stained with her father’s blood.

               “Over here,” she said, turning to the desk.  “They found the blood of the Mikaelsons.  Finn and Mikael.”

               She finally turned to look at Klaus.  His eyes were glowing eerily with the wolf, but he didn’t make any moves as Caroline looked at him.

               “No bodies were recovered, but I can remember the day I felt my father leave the Psy ‘Net.  I can remember the exact _moment_.  I was fourteen and in training, and I _felt_ it.  I felt him leave.  I’ve never felt such…”  she trailed off and looked at him helplessly.

               “Grief, Caroline.  It’s okay to feel grief,” Klaus murmured, taking a step toward her, but Caroline put the desk between them and shook her head, because he didn’t understand.

               “ _Relief_ ,” she choked out, and Klaus halted.  “I was fourteen, and in my file it claimed I was Silent… but that day I felt _relief_ , because he was finally dead.”

               “Caroline, Love-”

               “I hate blood,” she pressed on, pain digging into her temples again.  Caroline ran her hands into her hair, clenching the strands.  “I hate the mess of it.  I could hide it in the Squad, because my gift relied on my precision, relied on me _not_ making a mess; I could act as though it were practicality.  But it’s not the truth.  When I was ten, he took me with him.  He was a Tk, like me, and he wanted me to learn what he did… the blood… there was so much _blood_ , Klaus.  It was everywhere.  On me, on him.  I felt like I was _choking_ on it. But he smiled.  He _liked_ it.”

               She felt as though she were choking on the blood again.  As though she were ten and horrified at the damage she had caused.  Bill had told her she was a natural, and Caroline had been sick.  He had assumed it was because of the blood, and told her to make sure to keep her mouth closed next time, but it hadn’t been that.  

               It had been horror that she was capable of such a thing.

               “Caroline” – she was brought back to the present with a jolt when Klaus’ arms wrapped around her in an iron grip.  He held her close, and she brought her arms up around him, her fingers digging into his back.  Her breath came out in ragged gasps, and she couldn’t tell if the wetness she felt on her face was more blood, or tears.

               She let Klaus support her weight for far longer than she should have, but finally she pulled away, using her shirt to stem her bleeding again. Klaus clearly didn’t want to let go of her, but she pulled back until she was out of reach, because she had another truth to tell him yet.

               “My father was sent here, to assassinate the Mikaelsons, Klaus.  Because it was discovered that they were experimenting on other Psy.  The Council… Mikael had attacked Changelings, and they knew, but this time it was against our own, and there was proof that had to be eliminating.”

               Klaus went utterly still.  Caroline wanted to touch him, to offer him the comfort he had given her, but the stabbing in her temples reminded her that even if she knew how to offer such comfort, it wasn’t a good idea.  Not this close to the edge.

               “My pack,” Klaus said, rage infusing his face.  “It was them and your fucking Council _knew_?”

               “Yes,” Caroline replied with brutal honesty.

               “And your _Squad_ covered it up.” Klaus spun and in a rage he flipped over the desk.  It hit the wall with a crash, and Caroline flinched away from it.  “You can talk to me about drowning in blood, but you’ll flinch at a little noise?”

               “I’m not the one you want to hurt,” Caroline replied, keeping as still as she could.

               “Perhaps not, but you’re the only one here.”

               Klaus stalked towards her, and Caroline backed up, until her back hit the wall.  Then she froze as Klaus pressed his body to hers.

               “They killed my _parents_.  They killed my _brother_ – did your bloody squad know that?  Kol was Rebekah’s twin.  He was a _toddler_.  And there was nothing left of him for us to find.”

               “I can’t change what happened-”

               “No,” Klaus hissed.  “You can’t change what happened.  But you’ll ask us to save one of the bastards, won’t you?”

               “Bonnie isn’t like Mikael,” Caroline replied, her voice as dangerous in its softness as Klaus’ had been in its rage.  “She isn’t like my father.  Or like _me_.  I’m the monster Klaus. But Bonnie deserves to be saved.”

               A silent staring war commenced from that.  Klaus’ rage was still like a fire that surrounded Caroline, and she could only think that she had been right, to cling to Silence.  Because whatever Klaus might think he could offer her?  It would always be tainted by his hatred of where she had come from.

               Caroline didn’t want to spend her life being hated.

               A pained shriek, cut off as abruptly as it had started, broke the standstill between them. 

               “Stay here,” Klaus snarled, before he moved with a Changeling’s speed for the door.  Caroline didn’t listen of course, using her own telekinesis to move rapidly after him.

               The first thing she saw was the blood.

               Jenna was crumpled on the floor of the foyer, her face was so badly crushed she was unrecognizable, and blood pooled around her.

               Next, she noticed the man.  He turned toward them, startled by their sudden appearance.  Klaus moved for him, and in a single moment, Caroline saw with perfectly clarity what would happen.

               He wouldn’t reach the man, one with enough power to punch through a Changeling’s shield, and Klaus would die.

               In another heartbeat, she saw within the man, saw the blood that moved through his vein, the organs that kept his body running, and when she sliced through the pulmonary artery, she was aware of only a single thought.

               _Not him_.

               The strange Psy crumpled to the floor, and Klaus spun around to look at Caroline.  Her gaze remained focused on the fallen Psy, her face expressionless.

               But her _eyes_.  Her eyes _burned_ , and Klaus thought that if she could, she might have brought the attacker back to life, just so she could take it away again.  He took two low steps, until he stood between her and the corpse.  Her eyes flickered up to his, and she slowly lowered the arm that she held outstretched before her.

               “He was going to kill you,” she said her voice soft.  “And like an _idiot_ , you went running at him. Don’t you know how to fight Psy?”

               “Caroline…” Klaus began, and Caroline took two steps toward him, when a disturbance at the door brought their attention to Grayson, Damon and Enzo who entered, drawn by Jenna’s shriek.  Taking one look at his fallen packmate, Damon didn’t bother to ask any questions, and went right for Caroline.

               He came up short an instant before Klaus was in front of him.

               “Think very carefully,” Klaus warned, but Damon just stared at him wide eyed, his hand coming up to clutch at his chest.

               “Gorgeous,” Enzo said, his voice careful as Caroline stared at Damon with an utterly blank expression.  “Caroline, whatever you’re doing… you need to stop.”

               “You all think my people are monsters?” Caroline asked, and there was a vicious edge to it that neither of the wolves had heard before.  “You haven’t seen how terrible I can really be.”

               “Klaus,” Grayson said, coming to Damon’s side and supporting his Deputy’s weight.  “Please, whatever she’s doing, stop her.”

               It was the hint of fear in Grayson’s voice that brought Caroline back to her senses.  She released the telekinetic grip she had taken on Damon’s heart and stepped back, her hand coming up to cover her mouth as Damon slumped forward with deep breaths.

               “Caroline,” Klaus began, and he had no idea what he wanted to say next.  Thank-you for saving me?  Are you okay? Why was it so important that I survive? But Caroline frantically shook her head, preventing him from responding at all.

               “That’s Finn Mikaelson,” she said instead, and all the Changelings looked at her as she walked around them to kneel at his body.  It distracted her, looking his corpse over.  “He’s supposed to be dead.”

               “Your father was to have killed him,” Klaus murmured.  “He died while assassinating them, Love.  Perhaps they got the jump and fooled everyone.”

               “Impossible,” Caroline replied flatly, straightening once more.   “My father didn’t fail. He might die to be successful, but he wouldn’t have failed.”

               It had been one of the legacies he had passed to Caroline; a refusal to accept failure, even if success meant his own death.

               The other legacy?  Caroline looked at Damon and rubbed a hand down the center of her chest.  She didn’t want to think about the other legacy that might live in her heart.

               Nor did she want to think about what Finn Mikaelson’s presence meant for the assumptions made about the deaths of five years previous.  _All_ the deaths.

\---

               His father was in a rage.

               Kol stood straight against the wall and tried to fade into it.  When Mikael raged – though he would never admit to such an _emotion_ – everyone else paid. 

               “Calm down.”

               Kol didn’t know the name of Mikael’s partner.  Up until recently, he had only been present on rare occasions.  It was only since _her_ arrival that he had become a permanent fixture.  But the way he spoke so coldly made Kol uneasy.

               He wanted to kill the man.

               “Calm down?” Mikael demanded, spinning on the partner.  “ _Calm down_?  They killed my son!  The only loyal legacy I had left!”

               Kol flinched at the reminder that his loyalty didn’t matter.  Mikael noticed and turned on him with a sneer.

               “Does the boy feel hurt by that?  We both know you’re nothing more than a failure!  And now you’re _nothing_.  Of no use to the Psy… and too used up to ever be accepted by a _Pack_.”

               Kol felt a growl rise in the back of his throat as Mikael turned away, and he took a step towards him.  He was stronger than Mikael.  Kol knew this.  He could take his father’s neck in his hands and just _snap_ it, and end all of the misery that had haunted him for twenty years.

               A sharp stab of pain had him recoiling, and his gaze shot to his father’s partner, who gave him a chilling smile.  He loved to smile, this partner.  But there was no real feeling in it.  Kol knew, because he was a failure who had never managed to cut feeling out entirely.

               But this partner?  His Silence was perfect.

               “We strike back,” Mikael said, Kol already out of his mind.  “We hit them where it will hurt.”              

               “Go check on our guests,” the partner told Kol.  He didn’t move at first, his gaze narrowing, but another pang in his mind reminded Kol that though he might be stronger physically than these Psy, that didn’t matter if they crushed his mind before he could lay hands on them.

               His chest rumbled in a steady growl as he retreated.  Behind him, he heard the partner speak.

               “Use logic, Mikael.  Finn is a loss, but they still don’t know _where_ we are.”

               Kol was out of hearing distance of the room then, but soon enough he could hear, and smell, the prisoners instead.  He didn’t like the scent of the man – _Elijah_ , the son of Kol’s father – not when it was mixed with _Hers_.

               _Bonnie_. 

               Kol paused outside the cell and rested his head against the door.  Bonnie didn’t make him feel like a failure.  With Bonnie… he felt…

               Well, he _felt_. 

               “She’s asleep.”

               The low voice made Kol jolt, and he opened the cell to see Bonnie resting against the wall, while Elijah sat against the opposite ones, his legs crossed as though he’d been meditating.  But Kol could see that his eyes were open.

               “You are a Changeling,” the Arrow observed coldly.  But even though Elijah’s expression was flat, Kol got the sense that he felt far more than Mikael’s partner.  “You don’t belong here.”

               “I belong nowhere,” Kol replied flatly.  He found himself drawn to Bonnie, and Elijah watched him as Kol sat next to her, his pinky reaching out to touch her dark hair.  “You might call me the black sheep of the family.”

               There was an underlying strain of humor in the words.  Whenever Mikael heard that tone, he applied force to try and make Kol give up what one might call a sense of humor.  But it had persevered through twenty years of being forced to go against his every instinct.

               “You can get her out of here,” Elijah observed, and Kol simply scoffed.

               “No one leaves here.”

               “Then you sentence your mate to death.”

               The words made Kol jolt in shock.  Elijah’s eyes were once more closed, and clearly he no longer wished to speak.  Kol didn’t mind that, however.  He was too focused on the other man’s words, staring blankly at the dark skinned girl next to her.

               _Mate_.

               Was that was this was?

\---

               Klaus had made a very large error.

               He had known it, the moment he lost his temper with Caroline.  And now they had reached the den, without her speaking a single word to him, and he had no idea how to undo the damage his temper had wrought.

               His first angry thought had been that he didn’t _want_ to undo the damage his temper had wrought, but anger had quickly faded, replaced by the realization that he had aimed his rage at the wrong target at the very worst of times.

               He had called the Psy monsters; mere moments after Caroline had laid her heart bare for him.  Her expression when she had told him about her father sent a chill down his spine.  She had looked so… _broken_.

               “You saved me,” he said into the silence between them.  “You were concerned-”

               “You’re the Alpha of RiverForest.  Despite our differences, I _like_ your pack.  I didn’t want them hurt like that.”

               There was some truth to her cool words, Klaus knew.  But she also refused to look him in the eyes, a sure sign that her words held some level of a lie.

               But her remote expression also told him that line of questioning would get him no answers.  Not today.

               “You told me once that your father was a sociopath,” he said instead. He had stopped the van and Caroline would have climbed out, but his words made her freeze.  “That’s why you refuse to break your Silence, isn’t it?  Because you fear you’re like him.”

               “It’s part of it,” Caroline acknowledged.  She kept her gaze out the window, refusing to look at him.

               “What’s the other part?” Klaus prompted after a long silence fell between them.

               “You don’t get to know that,” Caroline said after a long moment.  Klaus closed his eyes as she opened the door.  He waited for it to close, but instead there was another pause, and then – “ _you’re_ not _my_ mate.”

               His eyes snapped open as the door slammed shut, and he watched her stalk away.  But rather than the internalized anger he had been feeling until then, he now felt something else.  _Hope_.

               Caroline might claim Silence, but her tone had been anything _but_.  Klaus had heard that tone a thousand times before, and now he smiled after his retreating mate.

               Every time that tone had been used, it was because a female was disgruntled… and wanted to be chased.


	9. Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter! Yet more forward momentum in the plot, a fair bit of Klaroline, and we see the two of them discuss their issues with other members of the pack.

 

               “You don’t feel any residual pain?”

               “A faint ache in my temples, but it’s decreased significantly since Klaus and I returned.”

               Caroline followed the light Sage shone into her eyes.  She had spent enough time with the Arrow M-Psy in the process of learning to utilize her own abilities that she knew how this went.

               She had also spent enough time being healed by those same M-Psy.

               “You never mentioned how you got this,” Sage remarked, her finger tapping on the shiny pink scar on Caroline’s forearm.  The contact might have alarmed her, except that the Healer continued to move around, not bothering to linger.

               “No one has ever asked me,” Caroline responded, pushing herself off the cot and rolling her sleeves down so the scar was covered again. 

               “Fine, Caroline,” Sage replied, her voice dry.  “How did you get the scar on your arm?”

               Caroline blinked and watched the redhead bustle around the infirmary that was her territory.  In this room, not even Klaus held a higher status than Sage. 

               “I don’t talk about it,” Caroline replied guardedly.  Sage paused in her motions to look over her shoulder.  Whatever she saw on Caroline’s face made her chuckle and move towards her, and run a hand over her blonde hair.

               “We leave you very out of your depth, don’t we?” Sage asked.

               “Infinitely,” Caroline replied, and she wasn’t sure she had ever meant a word like she did that one.  “You hate Psy, yet you’re kind to me.  Klaus threatens not to help Bonnie, even though he thinks I’m his mate, and Bonnie is _far_ better than me.”

               “We don’t hate all Psy, Caroline,” Sage replied, her gaze softening at Caroline’s admission.  “Only those that would harm us.  Sometimes, it can be difficult to tell the difference.  You, though?  You’re here.  We see you with the pups.  We _know_ you would never hurt them.  This Bonnie is a stranger to us… but for you, our people will track her.”

               Caroline’s fingers played with the sleeve of her shirt as she watched Sage continue to move around. 

               “It was… training,” Caroline began hesitantly.  The only sign that Sage had heard her was a brief pause, but then the Healer continued her work.  It was easier to speak, when Sage’s expressive gaze wasn’t focused on her.  “It wasn’t Sienna’s fault.  We were both children.  But I was a failed experiment, so Ming thought he’d use me as a sacrificial lamb.  It was the day I got this scar, that he realized I had some usefulness.”

               “The way you can heal quicker,” Sage said softly.

               “The way I can use my M-Psy abilities for more precise attacks,” Caroline corrected.  “That I could heal myself just meant I could be sent on missions that would otherwise be suicidal.”

               Caroline fell silent, staring down at her feet.  After a moment, a hand landed on her shoulder and squeezed softly.  Caroline looked up at Sage, who gave her a soft smile.

               “I don’t know how to act around you,” Caroline said, her voice soft.  “All of you.  The Changelings.”

               “You’re doing a rather good job,” Sage replied with on last squeeze.  “Now, I imagine Klaus will be here momentarily, so unless you want to talk with him about whatever had you in mood when you got here, you’ll want to take off.”

               Caroline shot Sage a quick, thankful smile and headed for the exit.

               “You said you were a failed experiment” – Sage’s words made Caroline freeze at the door – “I don’t expect you to tell me what you mean by that, Caroline… just know that you’re not a failure here.  Klaus might not always say the right thing, but he views you as nothing less than perfect.”

               “There are problems with perfection, too,” Caroline said, her words quiet.  “My people nearly destroyed themselves striving for it.”

               Sage said nothing more, and after a beat, Caroline headed down the hallway.

               Now that she was free of the Infirmary, she needed to figure out a way to rid herself of the foul, deep set ache in her chest that Klaus’ stupid, judgmental words had left her.

\---

               Klaus scowled at his computer screen.  The door to his office finally opened, and he looked up to see Marcel in the doorway.

               “Natalia is headed over to RussetHill to stay with her family.  She wants to be with Miranda, to deal with Jenna’s burial.”

               “Nadia?” Klaus replied, straightening in his seat.  Nadia had been a surprise to Natalia and Gustav Pierce, born twenty years after their oldest daughter.  Gustav was an engineer, and currently at the edge of the territory for work.

               “Rebekah is taking care of her.  Nadia and Henrik get along well, it made sense.”

               Klaus gave a slow nod, and tapped his fingers on his desk.  Marcel sauntered in and sprawled in the seat across from him.  The younger male was just a couple years older than Rebekah, and it had been his family that had taken in an orphaned Klaus and Rebekah after their parents’ deaths.

               It seemed to leave Marcel thinking he could get away with more than others.

               He wasn’t wrong.

               “Are you actually gonna make me ask you, man?” Marcel asked after several beats of silence.

               “Ask me what, exactly, Marcellus?” Klaus replied, earning an extraordinarily dry look.

               “You’re in a bad mood.  Your Psy is currently showing Enzo exactly what she’s capable of in the gym right now.  What’s up?”

               Klaus tensed at the mention of Enzo and Caroline, and he forced himself to relax, to not overreact at the thought of Caroline being too close to another male.  He _wanted_ her to form bonds with other members of the pack… _needed_ her to, really.   He couldn’t be the only draw.  He needed her so entrenched that when they found Bonnie, she wouldn’t dream of leaving him.

               “I may have… misspoke.  Lost my temper with her.”

               “Is that it?” Marcel tossed back his head and laughed.  “Hell, Klaus – Enzo puts his foot in his mouth every other hour with Rebekah.  It’s gonna happen.  Now you get to do the fun part – you get to make up.”

               Klaus wasn’t quite as sure as Marcel was.  After all, Rebekah and Enzo’s arguments, particularly the ones they had during the mating dance, might be things of pack legend, but Rebekah was a Changeling.  Klaus knew the rules with Changelings.

               But Psy assassins?  It was a bit different.

               And dammit, he knew he spoke out of turn, but even now there was a small ball of anger in his chest.  They _knew_.  The Psy had known what the Mikaelsons were doing, but instead of dealing with them, they had covered their tracks, and allowed them to go free, even after nearly destroying Klaus’ pack.

               After destroying his _family_.

               Ansel and Esther had both been killed.  So had Kol, the twin whose loss Rebekah still mourned.  She often said that though she couldn’t remember his face, she could still never quite believe he was dead. 

               In one night, Klaus and Rebekah had been left orphaned and without their brother.

               His anger over that loss had never abated, but when he stepped into the gym, rubbing his chest, he came up short when he saw Caroline. 

               Enzo was gone, and instead there was Caroline, climbing the rock wall, with no protective equipment.  Just like that, anger disappeared, replaced with fear at the realization that she could all too easily fall.  She wasn’t a Changeling; Psy could be hurt so much easier, and Klaus’ instincts screamed for him to get her to safety.

               He forced himself to stay back and watch.  Caroline wouldn’t appreciate him treating her as though she were helpless.

               “Come down, Little Psy!” he finally called, thinking that watching her clamber along the wall might actually drive him mad.  She paused a few feet from the top, and then looked down at him.  Klaus had to bite back a growl at the sight of her dangling there so nonchalant.  “I’ll give you a far greater challenge as a sparring partner!”

               He thought she might ignore him, but her eyes had lit with the spirit of competition, and instead she released her grip on the climbing wall, letting her body hurtle towards the ground.  Klaus took three steps toward her, before her momentum slowed, and by the time she hit the ground, she was able to transition immediately into steps toward him. 

               “It makes you uneasy, seeing me up there,” Caroline commented, stopping several feet from him.  Klaus felt his expression tightened, but he didn’t deny her statement.  Caroline cocked her head and gave a sharp nod.  “Good.  You deserve it.”

               “That’s not a very Silent sentiment, Love,” Klaus pointed out.  Caroline said nothing, just rolled her shoulders and bounced on the balls of her feet.

               “Enzo went to the infirmary.  Apparently I’m mean today.”

               He wondered if she knew what it meant, that she gave him that warning before she leapt at him.  It meant Klaus was prepared for the attack and easily dodged.  He had to admit he was impressed with how quickly she moved.  Klaus had the brute strength of a Changeling on his side, of course, but Caroline was quick and light on her feet, and she waste her energy on the affectionate love taps as a female Changeling might.

               No, she took her fighting _very_ serious.

               “How do we win this bout?” she asked, ducking under a swipe that Klaus had aimed at her.  Her hand hit his solar plexus in return, and he stumbled back, breath knocked out of him.  Her eyes darkened in concern when Klaus took an extra moment to recover.

               The wolf growled, and the man smirked at that sign of affection… but Klaus wasn’t above using such a sign of weakness to win, and he leapt forward, throwing her off guard and taking her to the matt.

               “You didn’t explain the rules,” she said, levering a knee between them and pressing it to his chest, keeping him from pressing their bodies together.

               “Are you telling me there were rules in your Arrow spars?”

               Caroline’s gaze darted to her arm, and the shiny pink scar that marred the skin there. 

               “Are you going to tell me what has you in this unique mood?” Klaus asked her, drawing her attention back to him.  Her eyes narrowed, and when he was tossed off of her, he knew that it wasn’t her personal strength, but rather her telekinesis in play.  “Now _that_ is cheating, Love.”

               “It’s using my skills to my advantage,” she shot back.  She moved again, making a feint, and when Klaus fell for it, she used his own momentum to send him to the matt, her knee digging into his back.

               “Using our skill are, we?” Klaus replied with a wicked smirk.  That was all the warning Caroline got before he managed to get one of his arms free and upset her balance.  His claws flashed out, and he cut one of her tank top straps, very careful not to hit skin.  Caroline froze, and looked down at the cloth.

               “This tanktop belongs to your sister,” she informed him.

               “I’ll get Bekah a new one.  She’ll understand.”

               He grasped Caroline’s hand and pulled her into his arms, his fingers trailing down her neck.  He heard Caroline’s breath catch, and her eyelids fell to half mast, her neck tipping slightly so he had easier access.

               “Now, Love, are you ready to tell me what has you in this mood?”

               Her eyes flashed, and then went cool, an act that wasn’t entirely unexpected.  But when she tried to throw Klaus off balance by sweeping out her foot, he whirled her around and trapped her arms against her sides in an embrace from behind.

               “You’re upset,” he growled, trying to fight back his frustration, but not quite able.  “ _Why_? Is it…” he trailed off, cleared his throat, and then continued.  “Is it because of what I said?  I didn’t mean it.”

               “What you said…” for a moment, Caroline looked confused, and then she shook her head.  “I spoke to Sage about that.  She made valid points.  You don’t know Bonnie, and you were emotional.  Harsh words were to be expected.”

               “That doesn’t mean they were _deserved_.”  Klaus had never much been the type for apologies, but he found, in that moment, that he wanted her to know that he _meant_ it.  That these weren’t just platitudes spoken to expedite the mating… it was a rare occasion, but Klaus truly regretted his words.  Caroline blinked up at him when he spun her around, resting his hands on her shoulders.  “Caroline, I apologize.  I spoke out of turn in that manor.  You were finally trusting me, and I broke that trust.”

               Caroline remained silent for a long moment.  Then, she slowly lifted her hand and rested it on his cheek.  Klaus went unnaturally still at the contact, worried that if he moved, she would spook and stop touching him. 

               She brought her other hand up, so it rested on his other cheek, and then tugged him towards her.  Klaus allowed her to pull him down, until their foreheads rested against one another.

               “I don’t like to kill,” she said at last.  Her voice was a whisper; a quiet confession meant only for his ears.  “It’s what I was trained to do… what some would say I was born to do.  But I don’t take enjoyment from it.  I… killing Finn gave me no pleasure.  It just made me feel… _empty_.”

               “You saved me,” Klaus said, keeping his reply to a murmur as well.  “Finn was going to kill me, wasn’t he?”

               “I don’t know,” Caroline admitted.  “Probably.  I couldn’t be sure he wouldn’t.”

               “If anyone threatened you, Love, I would tear their throat out and never look back.  It’s what we do for those we love.”

               Caroline didn’t say anything in return.  She just stood there for a moment longer, her forehead pressed to his, and then she pulled back, her hands falling from his cheeks.

               Btu Klaus didn’t want the interlude to end, not yet, so he wrapped an arm around her waist and tugged her into him, sealing his lips over hers.

               Caroline’s response was instantaneous and electric.  She opened her mouth with a gasp, letting Klaus sweep his tongue against hers, and she brought her hands up again, this time to entangle in his hair. 

               Klaus was certain he would never get enough of her taste, not if he lived to 130, and spent all those years with her.  Caroline seemed to feel the same, because when they broke apart for hungry gasps of air, she was right there with hungry lips and clashing teeth when Klaus dove in for more.

               Somewhere outside the gym, a door slammed, and Caroline jerked away from him.  Klaus was ready to growl and demand that she come back, except that her eyes had gone dark – but not with black.

               They were red, and he could see a droplet, threatening to spill from her ears.

               “You have to get rid of the dissonance,” he said, letting her pull away from him.  If he were a better man, he might have said he’d walk away, let her keep her health and her Silence… but Klaus could be selfish, and neither man nor wolf was capable of letting her go, not anymore, and probably not from the very start. 

               “I told you why I can’t,” Caroline replied, shaking her head.  She winced and rubbed her temples with her fingers.

               “Your father took pleasure in the killing, you don’t, Caroline.  You just told me you don’t.  That’s not due to Silence – that’s because of _you_.”

               “I… there’s more.  It’s not just my father-”

               “You’re scared, Caroline.  I understand fear.  Do you think this doesn’t frighten me?  The things I feel for you… they _terrify_ me.  They shake me to the core of who I am.  But I know that it will be worth it.  For you, I’ll face my fear.  _Do the same_.”

               “And what if it’s too much?” Caroline shot back, and her voice was almost a yell.  Klaus took a startled step back at the volume, and Caroline hugged her arms around herself.  “Or, what if I do this, and then I lose you… what will be left for me then?”

               “You’re strong-”

               “I’m weak” – harsh words spoken in a detached tone – “it’s in the genetics.  Sociopath on one side, insanity on the other.  My father wasn’t the only monster, Klaus.  My mother just had the decency to kill herself rather than stain the Arrow name.”

               Klaus jolted, and Caroline looked at him, her expression dispassionate.

               “I care about Bonnie,” she said, her expression flat.  But something in her eyes wavered, before she continued to speak.  “I… care about you.  But that’s all I will ever allow myself.”

               They stood, locked in a staring war.  She was the one to finally break the gaze, turning her back to leave.

               “You’re a coward,” Klaus told her back, his hands clenching into fists, claws digging into his palms.

               “I’m sorry,” was all she said, after a brief pause in her steps.

               But she didn’t look back at him again.

\---

               The pups offered Caroline a sort of solace that she would have never understood before Bonnie.

               She didn’t say anything to them, simply took up a place on a bench, and watched them play.  It wasn’t long, however, before one of them came to curl up next to her.  A five year old with dark brown hair and big brown eyes.

               “My auntie died,” she said, her voice sad. “She was a fox.”

               “You’re related to Katherine,” Caroline said, seeing the resemblance now that the girl had spoken.  She lifted an arm, so the girl could scoot closer, pressing her tiny body to Caroline’s.  She hesitantly stroked her fingers through her hair.  Her mother had done that for Caroline once, when she was younger, before she embraced Silence. Dissonance sent bolts of pain into her brain, but Caroline just gritted her teeth in favor of stroking the girls hair, offering what little comfort she could.  It seemed to affect Nadia the same way it had Caroline, when she was a child.

               Elizabeth Forbes had never been Silent.  Her telepathy had been too much, and it had driven her mad.  Caroline remembered her screaming incoherently, terrifying her as a child… but she also remembered her mother stroking her hair.

               She wasn’t sure which had been the real Liz.  Nor would she ever know.  Liz had killed herself when Caroline was 14. She had received the news dispassionately, knowing that Ming would use any weakness to destroy her.

               Her mother had been weak. Caroline thought Liz had probably loved her, but in the end it hadn’t been enough, not to overcome her insanity.

               “I’m her sister,” the girl’s voice broke through Caroline’s dark thoughts.  “Nadia.  Henrik is right, you _do_ smell good.”

               “Thank-you,” Caroline replied. 

               She continued to stroke the girl’s hair until the game of soccer ended, and the pups began to make their way inside.  Nadia carefully pulled away, and then looked up at Caroline with a bright smile.

               “Thank-you for petting me.  My mama had to go and stay with my auntie, and Kat and papa try, but they’re not as good as mama.  You’re _almost_ as good.”  Nadia’s tone of voice told Caroline that being _almost_ as good as her mama was a great compliment, so Caroline solemnly inclined her head.

               “You are very welcome.”

               She watched the girl rush after her friends and then got to her feet.  She rubbed her chest, where there had been a near-constant ache since she had left Klaus.

               Thinking of him made her think of his accusation – _coward_ – and for a moment Caroline wondered what it would be like.  If she were a Changeling and free to love him like he deserved to be loved… or even if she were anything other than an Arrow from dangerously flawed bloodlines.

               If she were a simple M-Psy, she could let her Silence shatter and embrace everything Klaus offered.

               Maybe it was heartbreak?  This pain in her chest, that wouldn’t abate.  She had read books and listened to songs about the occurrence, but she had always thought it more of a metaphorical pain. 

               Or maybe this wasn’t true pain.  Maybe it was just emotional, and Caroline didn’t know how to tell the difference.

               She made it back to her room without encountering another member of the pack, and she was thankful for that.  She fell into bed, thinking that she would fall asleep quickly.

               Instead, she thought about Bonnie and Klaus and a small child’s solemn brown eyes.

               She thought about _emotion_ , and she tossed and turned and groaned in frustration.

               She was contemplating going and finding a late night snack when an alarm went off.  She rolled out of bed and looked out the door.  Rebekah was frantically running by, her eyes red and swollen.

               “Rebekah?” she asked, her voice making the other woman stop.

               “Have you seen Henrik?” she demanded, turning to look at Caroline, twisting her hands together in frantic worry.

               “Henrik,” the emotion that had fogged Caroline’s brain dissipated at the child’s name, leaving her in a state clear headedness.  “No, I haven’t.  He’s missing?”

               “Him and Nadia,” Rebekah replied, and Caroline felt a jolt of worry lance her at the name of the young girl.  “Caroline… can you find my baby?”

               “No,” Caroline admitted, and Rebekah’s beautiful face fell, so Caroline hurriedly continued.  “But I know someone who can.  We need Klaus, and then we need to make a phone call.”

               It took under ten minutes for Caroline and Rebekah to reach Klaus, Enzo and Katherine in the communications room, and even less time for Caroline to explain what she wanted to do.

               “You want to bring a Psy assassin into the den,” Klaus said, his voice flat.

               “Vasic is a true teleporter,” Caroline replied, deciding to be completely honest.  “If he wanted into the den, he could be here just by thinking of one of us.”

               “If that’s the case, why hasn’t he found your Bonnie?” Katherine asked.

               “Something’s blocking her-”

               “Something that _could_ block Henrik and Nadia,” Katherine interjected.  “We’re better off relying on our sense of smell.”

               “Changelings have natural protections that would be difficult for anyone to break,” Caroline said, looking to Klaus, determined to make him understand.  “The pups haven’t been gone long.  If we bring Vasic in now, he stands a better chance of finding them.  _Please_ , Klaus.”

               “And if we do find them?” Klaus asked, and it was the Alpha, not the man that cared for her, speaking.  “What then? Will Vasic be able to defeat these Psy that might have them?”

               “ _Might_ is the keyword,” Caroline pointed out.  “But planning for worst case scenario, I would go in with him.”

               “No,” Klaus replied shortly.

               “Klaus, I-”

               He stepped up to her, cupped her cheeks, and pressed his lips against hers hungrily.  Caroline responded, because she seemed incapable of not responding, and a sharp pain reminded her why she had to, and had her thrusting him away.

               “Now isn’t the time for your lover’s spat, Klaus,” Enzo growled out.  He looked as terrified as Rebekah, but Klaus just pointed at Caroline.  The others looked at her, watching as she tilted her head back to try and stop her nose bleed.

               “You’re walking a tightrope, Caroline.  Sending you in could very well mean your death.”

               Rebekah offered her a tissue, and Caroline accepted it, even as she had to accept that Klaus might be right.

               But… she had seen the pictures, of what Mikael did to Changelings, and for all her talk of _might_ , her… _instincts_ , told her that Mikael was the one that had them.  And he would want revenge, for the genetic legacy that Caroline had killed.  Henrik and Nadia might not be killed… but there were worse things than death, and Mikael would ensure that they experienced them all if the children weren’t saved _fast._

Of course, there was another way.  A way to put an end to the Dissonance.  But Caroline had been fighting against it since it became a valid option for the stable members of the squad.  Just that afternoon, she had explained to Klaus why it _wasn’t_ an option for her.

               _My sweet girl, I wish that we hadn’t brought you into this broken world._

Caroline swallowed at the echo of memory.  Her mother, in one of her more lucid moments.  They had seemed to come more often as Caroline had grown older, and with them, the pain and grief in her eyes when she had looked at Caroline had grown stronger.  In her weakest moments, Caroline wondered if that was why Elizabeth had taken her life in the end, because she couldn’t handle the monster that her daughter had become.

               _Henrik is right, you_ do _smell good._

A tiny face, tilted towards hers, an instinctual trust that made Nadia lean into Caroline’s side.  She had been trusted before – Elijah and Judd had trusted her to have their back on countless missions – but those bonds had been forged in blood and the code of Arrows.  The children of this pack, though?

               It was the first time Caroline had simply been _accepted_.  By pups that didn’t know any better, that didn’t view her as the monster beneath their beds when they should.  They trusted that they would be safe, surrounded by their pack.

               Caroline _couldn’t_ let that trust be destroyed because Mikael Mikaelson wanted revenge for _her_ actions.  She couldn’t let them be hurt because she had killed Finn.

“Aden,” she said at last, closing her eyes as she thought through all the pros and cons of what she was going to suggest.

               Pros: she would be able to save the children, with no worries that she was weakened by dissonance.

               Cons: she would no longer be able to be a coward, would no longer be able to hide behind Silence.

               Caroline Forbes would have to find out what kind of woman she really was.

               “If we bring in Aden, he can get rid of the dissonance, and I would be able to break my Silence.”


	10. Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new chapter, with yet more forward plot momentum!

The first thing Bonnie heard was sobbing.

               The light from the open door woke her from a light slumber, and then two small forms were thrust into the cell, the door closed again.

               “Who’s there?” asked a small voice.  Another continued to sob, but the owner of that voice was obviously doing their best not to let their tears fall.

               Bonnie wanted to be sick, because those voices belonged to _children_. 

               “My name is Bonnie,” she said, keeping her voice soft.  Whatever Mikael had done to block her from the PsyNet was still affecting her E-abilities, but still tried to keep what little bits of the children’s panic she could.  “I’m going to try and protect you.”

               “Bonnie?” this voice was different from the first.  It sounded male and younger.  “Caroline talks about Bonnie.”

               “Caroline?” Elijah’s voice lashed through the darkness like a whip, and both children whimpered. 

               “Elijah,” Bonnie growled out.      

               “Apologies,” Elijah said, his voice softening.  “I didn’t mean to frighten you.  But this Caroline, what does she look like?”  There was silence, and a rustling sound, and then Elijah spoke again.  “What are you doing?”

               “My sister strokes my hair when I’m scared,” said the first voice, the female child.  “Like this.”

               Bonnie could only see vague outlines, but she though the girl might be running Elijah’s hand over her hair. 

               “Caroline did it too.  She’s really pretty, and smells nice.”

               “She’s my Uncle Klaus’ mate,” said the boy, and Bonnie nearly jumped when he realized that he was standing right in front of her.  “You smell like pack, can you hug me?  I know Psy don’t like to hug, but-”

               He didn’t finish speaking, instead curling up next to Bonnie, who held him tight.  He inhaled against her.  He had been shaking in fear, but the shaking slowed as Bonnie stroked his back.  He grew stiff once more when the door opened again.  Bonnie stiffened as well, until she recognized who stood in the door.

               “Kol,” she said.  Kol walked in, and looked down at them, and Bonnie thought he might order her to move away from the boy.

               She wouldn’t.  Elijah had been a grown male who could handle his own emotional distress, but this was just a child.

               But instead, he knelt down, and his eyes seemed to glow as he looked at the boy.  She looked down, to see the boy watching Kol with the same avid expression.

               “Kol?” Bonnie said again, only this time it was a question.

               “He’s pack,” Kol said, his voice guttural with the wolf.  Bonnie felt as though she were holding her breath as the two continued to stare at each other.  Kol’s claws came out, scratching the cement floor. 

               “I’m Henrik,” the boy said at last, and Kol gave a small nod.

               “We need to get you out of here.”

\---

               “Are you sure about this?”

               Caroline looked up as Vasic took a seat next to her.  He and Aden had been holed up with Klaus for the past half hour.

               “Where is Aden?”

               “He is still with the Alpha.  I believe they are now discussing the Dissonance.”

               Caroline’s spine stiffened at that, and she began to stand.  If Klaus thought for a _second_ she would let him go around her –

               A strong hand grasped her bicep; a tug had her sitting down again.  She turned to Vasic, ready to tear into him, only to see that he wore an amused expression, one of his brows raised.

               “How do you do it?” Caroline asked, looking away from Vasic.  She traced the pattern of the wood that made of the table in front of them.  “How do you… _feel_ so easily?”

               “I nearly died and lost most of my arm,” Vasic’s voice was rather dry, and Caroline felt a small smile quirk her lips.  It fell, when the Dissonance sent a spike of pain into her temples.  “How bad is it getting, Caroline?”

               “Constant,” Caroline admitted, twining her fingers together.  She glanced up at Vasic, who was just watching her.  “You’re not as good at this as, Aden… but you’re getting better.”

               “It’s Ivy.  Loving her has… changed me.  For the better.” Vasic’s gaze was far too knowing as he looked at her.  “Much like I imagine loving your Alpha has changed you.”

               “It’s been less than a week-”

               “I knew within moments of meeting Ivy that my life would never be the same, Caroline.  What did your gut say about the Alpha?”

               “Klaus.  His name is Klaus… which you knew perfectly well” – Caroline rubbed her temples against the pain, and Vasic watched her with worry – “I need Aden to undo the Dissonance, Vasic.  I’m of no use to anyone like this.”

               Caroline wasn’t sure if Vasic would have said anything more.  The door to the office where Caroline had absconded to try and get the near constant ache in her head under control opened, cutting off their conversation.  Aden stepped in, and Caroline saw Klaus over his shoulder.

               Then, the head of the Arrows turned around and curtly closed the door, cutting off her view of the Alpha.

               “That was rude,” Caroline commented wryly, before wincing rubbing her temples with her fingers.

               “I don’t really care,” Aden replied simply.  Vasic vacated his chair, allowing Aden to take it.  He clasped his hands and leaned forward.  “Your nose.”

               Caroline reached up, and her fingers came away smeared with blood.  She gritted her teeth and accepted the tissue that Aden offered.  She tilted her head back and closed her eyes.

               “It’s not letting up?”

               “It started getting worse approximately thirty-six hours ago” – after she killed Finn, but Caroline didn’t say that.  She didn’t need to; Aden would be able to do the basic math – “it hasn’t let up since the children were taken.”

               “You know what my opinion is.  For some of us, Silence is the only sanctuary, but I’ve never felt you were one of them.  However, emotions are… powerful things, Caroline.  And you will be forced to leap in feet first.”

               “I have no choice,” Caroline replied simply.  “It’s devolving to the point where my choices are to either get rid of the Dissonance and break Silence… or die.”

               Silence lapsed between the three Arrows.  The two men exchanged looks, and the silent communication that passed between them made Caroline miss Elijah.  Her bond with her partner wasn’t quite like that between Vasic and Aden; they had been together since childhood.  But there was something about facing death together that forged unbreakable bonds, even through the Silence.

               “It will take time,” Aden said at last.  He looked away from Vasic, to meet Caroline’s gaze.  “You’ll have to let me in your mind.”

               “I trust you,” Caroline replied without hesitation.  Anyone else, and she probably would not be so willing to open herself… but this was Aden, and the one truth that all the Arrow Squad could rely on was that Aden would never betray them. 

               “Then close your eyes… and try to relax.”

               The last was said with a wry humor that many would probably be surprised to learn that Aden had.  He seemed so very solemn to the rest of the world.  But Caroline, like the other Arrows, knew the truth of her leader.  She knew of his deep love for Zaira, and his deep loyalty to the Squad.  And she knew that he enjoyed making jokes, though they often flew over the head of the Arrow they were spoken to.

               Perhaps it was a testament to how fractured her Silence already was, that this time she understood the joke.

               It was one thing to trust Aden, however, and another to actively let him into her mind.  It involved dropping all her personal shields, and putting not only disassembling the Dissonance into Aden’s hands, but also the protection of her mind. 

               _It’s complicated_ , Aden said to her telepathically.  Caroline wasn’t sure how long they had been sitting there, but she could feel sweat trickling down her spine.  It wasn’t particularly warm in the den, but keeping her mind open was proving more difficult than she had ever expected.

               Caroline had learned from a young age to keep her shields in place; while Bill had always preferred to cause a bloody mess, he had shown his daughter on more than one occasion that he was capable of a quieter kind of horror as well.

               _There are many… security measures_.

               There was a hint of a question in his voice.  She knew what he feared.  That Bill had buried himself so deeply within her mind, that not even he, with his great capabilities and talents, would be able to remove him.  Except that it wasn’t Bill who had put all the failsafes in place.

               _My mother_ , she responded, her mental voice stilted.  For a moment, Aden’s physical body stiffened, the only sign of his surprise.  Caroline didn’t talk about Liz.  _No one_ talked about Liz.  She was a well buried secret, one that they would take to their graves, because in the end she had been weak, but she had, in life, been an Arrow.

               _That explains why they’re so complicated_ , Aden continued his careful unravelling.  _Elizabeth was incredibly powerful._

And incredibly mad, but he didn’t add that, something Caroline appreciated.

               She continued to watch him work on the psychic plane, and had to appreciate the delicate work that a telepath had to be capable of.  Caroline wasn’t sure she would have been able to find all the black keys, particularly volatile aspects of conditioning, that had been intertwined into her psyche.  But Aden did, unraveling each with an impressive patience.

               _There is a trip wire. Loss of control over your powers will put up a block.  Will you be able to unravel it quickly enough?_

Caroline contemplated what it was Aden had put in place, and finally replied in the affirmative.

               _Yes.  It should give me enough time to get under control, but not last so long that an opponent will be able to take advantage._   She paused for a long moment.  _What’s it like?_

_What?_

_Being in love.  With Zaira.  I… have watched you with her, and Vasic with Ivy.  Even Judd with his Changeling.  And… what if I’m not capable of that?_

A long pause, because Aden would never give her empty platitudes.  If he told her it would all work out, it would be because he truly believed it would all work out.

               _It is nothing I ever expected or hoped to experience.  Zaira is_ mine _, in a way I never thought to experience another person.  The Squad has my loyalty and pieces of my heart, but she knows all of me._ Caroline felt Aden’s psychic touch, like a comforting caress.  _Why did you ask me to undo your conditioning?_

_The children are in danger. You know what Mikael is capable of, Aden.  I won’t allow them to be hurt._

Another beat of silence.

               _That is your answer.  Even when you should be Silent, you still care enough to face what you fear the most, simply to save their lives.  A woman who would do that is capable of the deepest love, Caroline.  I truly believe that._

Caroline took a deep breath, her grip on her seat tight.  She gave a slow nod that she knew Aden couldn’t see, but would sense.

               _Do it._

She thought that she would feel different, with her Conditioning undone.  But when she blinked open her eyes, nothing had really changed.  Aden smiled at her, and she felt her lips curve in return, without the sharp pain in her temples.  But there was no great influx of emotion.

               She looked at Aden and Vasic, and she felt loyalty, and a fondness for two men that had played roles in her training, but nothing overwhelming.

               “How do you feel?” Vasic asked her.

               Caroline pushed some of her hair out of her face – it was sweat soaked, and she wrinkled her nose, thinking that she would need to shower.

               “I feel… the same,” Caroline replied slowly.  “How long did it take?”

               “The better part of four hours.  Your Alpha has been alternately growling outside the door and in communication with hunting parties” – a brief pause – “I have been unable to teleport to the children.”

               His words gave Caroline her first taste of unfiltered emotion – a bone deep terror at the thought of what could have been done to Henrik and Nadia in those four hours.

               “I need to help them,” she said, getting to her feet.  “Henrik and Nadia… they’re still babies.  They can’t be left with that… with _Mikael_.”

               She wrenched the door open, not waiting for either of her fellow Arrows to reply.  Even if they had tried to calm her, she wouldn’t have listened.  They weren’t part of the pack; oh, they would never abandon a child to monsters, not anymore.  But they also didn’t _know_ the pups.  Not like Caroline did.

               The door open, and Caroline came up short.  Apparently, Klaus was back to growling outside – and pacing – and he came to a halt when the door opened.

               She hadn’t thought about how she would react to Klaus.  How emotions that had been so _powerful_ even when she retained her Silence would respond once it was utterly broken.  If she had thought about it, however, she would have never expected her reaction to be _this_.

               _She calmed_.

               Panic that had threatened to suffocate her retreated to a tolerable level the second her eyes met his.  His wolf rode close to the surface, a testament to his own worry, but seeing it somehow helped to calm her own racing heart; made her realize that blind panic wouldn’t help anyone.

               “Caroline,” he murmured.

               “Klaus,” she replied, and in two steps she found herself pressed to his chest.  His arms came up automatically, wrapping around her, and she clutched at his back with her hands, burying her face against the warmth of him.  “We have to save them.”

               “We will, Love.  We’ll find them, and I’ll even let you take a turn bloodying the bastards that took them.”

               “He’s dangerous” – Caroline pulled back from him, but she didn’t break the contact entirely.  The contact grounded her – “we’ll have to kill him.”

               She had thought that, perhaps, breaking Silence would leave her less able to do the job that had come to her so easily.  But the emotions caused by thoughts of the pups were easily turned towards Mikael now that she no longer let blind fear rule her.  Likely a finely honed blade, she could aim her anger at Mikael.

               He wouldn’t so stop, so she would do what her father hadn’t.

               And maybe there would be some poetic justice in that, as well.  Bill Forbes had not been a kind or caring father, but he had been her blood, so Caroline would kill Mikael in part for him as well.

               “The kids, is there any way to tell if your teleportation is failing because they’re hurt” – _or worse_ , but Caroline refused to think that.  Not that the alternative was necessarily much better – “or because Mikael has managed to block them?”

               “It’s difficult to tell,” Vasic admitted.  “But I think the latter.  I thought I had a lock at one point and then it… _shuddered_ , for lack of a better word.  There’s something there, which makes me believe that their physical appearance hasn’t been altered in any dramatic way.”

               Which meant Mikael hadn’t yet resorted to torture or mutilation.  That was something, at the very least.

               “Vasic cannot teleport, but we still have tracking abilities, learned in training.  We can help you,” Aden added.  Klaus stiffened under Caroline’s hands, and she looked at him.

               “Can you afford to turn down help?” she asked, because emotions hadn’t completely rid her of logic.

               “No,” Klaus replied on a growl, closing his eyes.  He leaned forward, resting his forehead against hers.  When he opened his eyes once more, his eyes were still blazing blue.  “Once all this is said and done, we will have a long talk.  About emotion.”

               “We will,” Caroline agreed with a small smile.  He pulled away from her, and led the way down the hall; to where the trackers were being coordinated.  Caroline didn’t follow immediately.  She hesitated for a second, watching the three men walk away.

               If she had thought about her relationship with Klaus before breaking Silence, the one thing she may have expected was for the mating bond to snap into the place.  But it hadn’t, and Caroline didn’t quite know what to think about that.

               Because now that her Silence was gone, she realized that giving up Klaus might very well not be an option for her.

\---

               Once Kol made a decision, he acted on it very quickly.

               Bonnie realized that when, one moment she was trying to glare down one of Mikael’s Psy underlings who had come for the children, and the next that same Psy was on the ground, his neck at an unusual angle. Kol loomed over him, having been the one to snap his neck.

               She clutched Henrik into her side, hiding his eyes so he wouldn’t see the dead body.  Across the room, Nadia looked at the man with avid eyes, and Bonnie met Elijah’s solemn expression with a glare that had him tugging the girl back, so he could hold his hand over her eyes as well.

               “He’s dead, isn’t he?” Nadia asked, tugging fruitlessly at Elijah’s hand.  “You know, I already saw it.  Stopping me from seeing once I already saw it won’t do anything.”

               “You are too young to see a dead body,” Elijah asserted in his steely tone that brooked no arguments.  Bonnie knew he probably didn’t believe that, but appreciated his attempt all the same.

               “We need to move,” Kol stated, stepping over the dead body.  He helped Bonnie to her feet, carefully angling his body so that Henrik wouldn’t see the dead one.  “It won’t take long, before they realize you are no longer in the cell.”

               “If I had access to my powers, I would more readily be able to assist you,” Elijah pointed out, getting to his own feet, his hand on the back of Nadia’s head, so he could keep her from looking at the corpse.

               Nadia, Bonnie realized, was a little blood thirsty.

               “Once we’re out, I can remove your chip.  But we don’t have time now.  You can shoot?”

               Elijah nodded the affirmative, and Kol pulled a gun out from beneath his jacket, holding it out to the other man.

               “How will we escape this place?” Bonnie asked, excitement at the thought of escaping this place fighting with fear that they would get killed in the attempt. 

               “There’s a lesser used exit.  We’ll use it.”

               “You plan for us to just… walk out?” Elijah asked, raising a brow.

               “Yes.  I am Mikael’s well kept pet” – there was a dark bitterness in Kol’s words that made Bonnie ache to reach out to him, to soothe the wolf within – “none of them view me as a viable threat that would ever betray his master.”

               Silence fell between the two men, who seemed to be engaged in some sort of battle of wills, their gazes focused on one another.

               “That would be their mistake,” Elijah said at last.  “The will of a predatory Changeling is an impressive thing.  They should have known better than to make the attempt to break it.”  He carefully guided Nadia around the dead body and then released his hold on her.  “You should go to Bonnie.  I may need that side to fight.”

               For a second, Bonnie thought Nadia might argue.  Then her small shoulders slumped, and she joined Bonnie, running her hand through Henrik’s hair as she did so.

               “Okay.  But once we’re out, I want you to carry me.”

               Elijah looked utterly befuddled by the girl’s attachment to him, but anything he might have said was halted by Kol looking out the door and then motioning for the others to follow him.

               Bonnie had expected the escape to be difficult. 

               But Kol knew the compound incredibly well, including all its nook and crannies, and any time someone came close them, he ushered them into safety until the risk of discovery passed.

               “How do you know all these places?” Bonnie asked softly.

               “Hiding from Mikael” – to Bonnie’s surprise, it was Elijah, not Kol, who answered.  The Arrow’s gaze focused on the Changeling for a moment, then went back to keeping a sharp watch – “I’m correct, am I not?  I knew the same, in the home of my childhood, however brief my time there was.  Mikael was not… a kind, master.”

               “Finn never seemed to complain,” Kol said after a beat of silence in which he led them down yet another hall. 

               “Finn was the heir.”  A simple answer, one that would probably confuse most Changelings or humans.  But Bonnie understood.  Psy held their genetic legacy above all else, especially those in the clutches of Silence.  Kol gave an incline of his head, one that was a testament to the time he’d spent with Mikael, because he understood the importance of the genetic legacy.

               And why he would never be important in his step father’s mind because of it.

               “This is the exit.  It won’t take long, for someone to realize that it’s opened when it shouldn’t.  We’ll have to run.”

               “You should shift,” Elijah said.  He held the gun at the ready, his muscles going tight.  “As should the children.  It will give you your best chance to escape, and the Psy may not be able to tell your minds from those of the wild wolves in the area.”

               “Can you do that for us?” Bonnie asked, kneeling down between the children.  They were both clutching her hands.  Henrik looked terrified, but Nadia nodded, steel in her eyes.

               “It’s like playing tag in the den, Henrik,” she said to her friend.  “Or hide-and-seek.  We just gotta hide until Kat and your daddy come and find us.”

               “Okay,” Henrik replied with a slow nod.  “Okay.  I can hide.  I’m the best hider.”

               “It’s a good idea,” Kol agreed.  There was a long pause, and then.  “I can’t shift.”

               “Of course you can shift,” Nadia argued, though she seemed to understand that they couldn’t be overheard, and so kept her voice low.  “You just let your wolf out.”

               “Mikael’s attempts to… Silence me… they left me with the inability to shift.”  Rather than speak to the children or Elijah, Kol’s gaze remained focused on Bonnie.  She straightened slowly, and took a step toward Kol.  When she grasped her hand, there was a shock a their hands came in contact.

               “You’re not Silent.  Not truly.  You’ll get it back.”

               “We’ll need to remove the chips before we leave the compound,” Elijah’s voice cut into the silence between Bonnie and Kol.  “I realize you were having a moment, and I’ve interrupted it.  But we can’t be bothered with emotions until we are safe.  After Aden and Zaira were taken, we were taught the proper method to remove these chips.  I can take out yours, Miss Bennet, and walk you through the removal of my own.”

               It took precious minutes, for Kol to find a scalpel.  Yet more for Elijah to cut out Bonnie’s chip.  She clutched at her knees tightly during the process.

               But when it came time to remove Elijah’s, she found that she couldn’t.

               “My hands are shaking too much.  I’ll do irreparable damage,” she told him, pulling the scalpel away from his skin.

               Warm hands covered hers, and she looked up at Kol.  Her grip on the scalpel released, and he nudged her towards the children, to comfort them.

               “How do I do this?”

               Kol didn’t realize what it took, for Elijah to walk him through the process in a monotone voice, but Bonnie did.  She hadn’t known him long, but their connection gave her a bit of an insider’s view on his psyche, and she knew there was only person that Elijah would allow to do this, had the situation not been so dire.

               Caroline.

               “We need to move quickly, and find sanctuary.  And then I need to find a way to contact the Arrows.  Whatever happens, Caroline cannot be allowed to come here, Bonnie.”

               Bonnie blinked in confusion for a moment, staring at Elijah and wondering if he had somehow read her thoughts, had known she was thinking of her friend.  But no, Elijah’s attention was still focused on their escape.

               “Why can’t this girl come?” Kol demanded.  “If she’s like you, then let her kill them all.”

               “Because that’s exactly what Bill wants.  And he cannot get his hands on her again.”

               Again.

               Kol shrugged and moved toward the door, and Elijah nudged Bonnie and the children, who both shifted to wolf form, ahead of him, so he took up the rear.  But Bonnie reached out and grasped his hand, forcing him to turn his attention to her.

               “Who is Bill, Elijah?” she asked the question, but Bonnie already knew the who.  It was the plain faced man, the one that worked with Mikael and was somehow so much more terrifying than he was.  But she had a feeling that Elijah’s answer would finally tell her the why – why her, and not some other Cardinal.

               Elijah hesitated for a moment, then let out a slight sigh.

               “William Forbes is Caroline’s father” – ahead of them, Kol opened the door to outside, and before Bonnie could truly react to Elijah’s revelation, he had turned her ahead, and shoved her after the pups that had broken into a sprint – “no more questions.  Run!”

               And then, Bonnie turned all her attention to surviving.


	11. Ten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I missed my usual update schedule by a few weeks, and I can't promise this means I'll be picking it up again... BUT I'VE FINALLY UPDATED!! I hope you enjoy the chapter!

“You shouldn’t have taken the children.”

               William Forbes stepped into the empty cell and looked around.  He maintained perfect Silence; at least on the outside.

               The fact was, Silence as the Psy embraced it had never been difficult for Bill.  It was made to eliminate that pesky sensation called empathy – and it there was anything Bill disliked, it was empathy.

               His fingers curled into a fist as he looked around the room.  Bonnie Bennett was meant to die in this place, a lesson to his daughter, of what empathy would gain her.  Caroline had grown weak in the years since Bill’s “death,” and he meant to remind her what weakness meant.

               But now, the empath was gone, all because Mikael couldn’t keep his damn emotions under control.  The man might argue that, but it had been grief that drove him to take the Changeling pups, and it was the pups that made the pet wolf rebel.

               For a moment, Bill contemplated killing the other man.  It would be simple.  Bill had spent enough time around Mikael, that he could reach out now, dig psychic fingers into his brain and turn it to much.  It wouldn’t be as satisfying as Bill’s normal methods – he enjoyed the feel of blood, the thrill of physically, rather than psychically, taking a life – but in the case of Mikael, quick would be better than satisfying.

               But he still had a purpose; until Bill had Caroline in his reach again, he needed the considerable resources that Mikael had access to, even when the world believed him dead. 

               “The Changelings will come after us,” Bill said at last, carefully loosening his fingers, so they hung limply at his sides. 

               “We’ll stop them from reaching the pack,” Mikael replied.  “They can’t have gotten far.”

               “Are you still blocking the minds of the pups?”

               Silence reigned, and Bill felt his lips curl in a derisive smirk.

               “You forget, you’re not just dealing with the beasts anymore.  The wolves all but worship at the altar of their pups.  Send out your men if you wish – perhaps your lurid history with the wolves will prevent Niklaus from accepting help from the Arrows.  But I will not count on that.  By now Vasic has probably already teleported them to safety.”

               “It was your damn daughter’s fault-”

               Mikael cut off with a gurgle, clawing at his throat.  Bill watched him, quirking his head to the side, and narrowing his eyes slightly, increasing his telekinetic grip on the other man.

               “I will take care of Caroline,” he said at last, releasing the hold.  Mikael slumped against the door way, one of his hands clutching at his throat.  “You should work to disassemble this place.  We don’t want the wolves to be able to use it to find us.”

               “These beasts will not beat me-”

               “Count your losses, Mikael,” Bill cut the other man off coolly, heading for the door.  “Before you end up as dead as your son.” He looked at the wall across from the room contemplatively.  “Send out your men, but tell them they are to kill, not apprehend.”

               “Elijah is my so-”

               “Elijah is an Arrow with an Arrow’s loyalty to the Squad.”  Bill knew the boy better than his so-called father.  Elijah might carry the name of Mikaelson, but he was Aden’s man.  “He’ll kill before he’ll give you his loyalty.  Send out your men – and let us hope that the wolves clung to their pride and did not ask for assistance.”

\---

               Bonnie was in mid run when the connection to the Psy Net hit her.

               She had expected it to take longer, so the sudden reconnection took her entirely by surprise, and she stumbled, her ankle twisting as she fell to the ground, her hands slamming into the ground. 

               “Bonnie, what’s happened?” Kol, knelt next to her.  The pups both crowded in, nudging her with their noses and whining in their throats.  Bonnie lifted her hands, intending to soothe the pups with strokes, but then she realized that the forest’s floor had sliced open her palms.  Kol took them carefully, his palms warm.  “You’ve hurt yourself.”

               “I’ll be okay,” Bonnie assured him as Kol tore at his shirt, and wrapped the cloth around her palms.  “I’ve reconnected to the Psy Net.  It took me by surprise.”

               “That was far quicker than expected,” Elijah commented.  His eyes kept up a constant survey of the forest around them, his hand tense on his gun.

               “You haven’t reconnected?”

               A sharp shake of his head was Elijah’s response.

               “They were different chips,” Kol said after a beat of silence.  He got to his feet and held a hand out.  Bonnie accepted it, letting him help her to her feet.  She winced when she tried to put her weight on her ankle, and leaned heavily into Kol.  “I can’t walk.  I’m going to hold you all up.”

               It wasn’t just her ankle, either.  The psychic torture that had been inflicted on her was beginning to take its physical toll.  The pups nuzzled against her, and Bonnie smiled down at them and sent them a wave of calm.  It did amazing things for her own healing, to be able to help them in such a way.  Being cut off from her powers had been like having a limb removed.

               “We can’t leave you,” Elijah said to her.  “Caroline would never forgive me.”

               “Caroline’s first priority was always to protect the young of the Squad,” Bonnie argued.  “Even above me.  She’ll understand when she learns that you have the pups.”

               The pups, that had spoken to them of Caroline in the dark cell.  Henrik’s fear had lessened, when he spoke of Caroline making him fly.  And Nadia had said she had smelled good, and had stroked her hair when she was sad, because her mother had to go and visit her aunt.

               “We’re not leaving you,” Kol said shortly.  Rather than allow Bonnie to argue, he simply bent, and lifted her so that he carried her bridal style.

               “Kol, you can’t,” Bonnie argued, though her arms had gone around his neck.  It had seemed so natural do so, and to cuddle closer to his chest.  “Elijah still doesn’t have his Tk back.  Without it… they’ll need you to get them to safety.”

               “I’m not leaving you,” Kol replied gruffly, his arms tightening their hold.  He looked at Elijah, who held his gun at the ready, his expression cold and remote.  “You’ll have to take anyone out as they come.”

               “I’m aware of what must be done. Bonnie, attempt to get in touch with someone.  I know your Telepathy is a low gradient, but perhaps a general plea for help will bring someone to us.”

               “Or it will bring Mikael and…”

               Bill, but Bonnie couldn’t quite bring herself to say it.  She had heard horror stories about the man – not from Caroline, who never spoke of her parents – but from Ivy, with whom Vasic shared everything.  The other E had wanted Bonnie to understand her Arrow, when Caroline was first assigned to Bonnie.  Perhaps it had helped, or perhaps the girls were simply meant to be best friends. 

               “You cannot walk, and I’m weaker than I should be.  They will be after us either way.  It’s… a calculated risk.  If we bring down those that will pursue us, the children can still get away. As can Kol.  Even in human form, Changelings are quicker than Psy.”

               “I’m not leaving Bonnie!” Kol spoke with a guttural growl that had both pups shifting at their feet with low whines.

               “You’re frightening the children,” Bonnie said, poking her finger into Kol’s chest.  “And you will leave me, if that’s the only way you can save me.”

               Kol’s arms tightened around her, and a low growl hummed in his throat.  He might have argued, except his head suddenly snapped around, and he glared into the trees.  Elijah reacted just a second after Kol, his gun coming up, his grip on the trigger tightening slightly.

               “Move,” the Arrow commanded, and it was all that Kol needed to hear.  He began to sprint through the trees, the pups at his heels.  He moved with a gracefulness Bonnie could never hope to match, and she clung to him.  She peeked over his shoulder when she heard a gunshot.  Elijah was no longer visible, and Bonnie’s fingers dug into his shoulders.

               “Elijah,” she said to Kol, who just gave his head a hard shake.

               “He’s holding them off, so we can get away.  I recognized the scent; it was Mikael’s people.”

               Bonnie wanted to argue, to tell him to turn back – because for all that Elijah believed Caroline would never forgive him if Bonnie were injured, she wasn’t sure her friend would ever forgive her if the opposite happened. 

               Kol moved rapidly, but as he leapt over a log, his body was thrown suddenly off balance, and both he and Bonnie hit the forest floor hard.  The pups whimpered, and Bonnie pushed herself to her knees and held her body in front of them protectively as a Psy that she recognized from her sessions with Bill Forbes stalked towards her.

               Kol growled a few feet away from her, and his fingers became claws and he tensed to leap at the other man, who turned a cold gaze towards him.  Bonnie expected Kol to shout in pain, or to simply die, because Mikael didn’t seem to be the type to employ anyone he didn’t have some use for, and only telepaths or telekinetics were suitable for aggressive maneuvers like this one.

               But instead, the Psy froze.  His expression might have looked comical, a puzzled expression crossing his face.  He looked down, his hands coming up to run over his chest, and then keeled forward, landing on the ground, utterly still.  But Bonnie wasn’t looking at his body – no, her gaze was locked on the blonde woman that stood behind the Psy’s corpse, her eyes ice cold. But it wasn’t the dispassionate cold that Bonnie had seen in her eyes more than once.  No, this was a cold that was firmly rooted in fury. 

               Bonnie had never seen Caroline Forbes so livid.

               With her friend so close, the bond between them seemed to hum, and Bonnie could feel the dark emotions roiling from her friend.  Then, when Caroline finally looked up from the corpse, her gaze meeting Bonnie’s, the fury was replaced with a relief so powerful Bonnie couldn’t move from the force of it.

               Yips broke the moment, and the pups ran out from behind Bonnie to leap up, planting their paws on Caroline’s knees.  She knelt down, her fingers running through their fur.

               “It’s okay,” Caroline told them.  “It’s okay.  You’re safe now.  Pack is on its way.  You’re safe.”

               Bonnie watched her friend soothe the pups, not entirely sure how to respond.  Caroline had always swore she would never choose to break Silence, even though Bonnie had always believed she would be capable of great things if she did.

               Seeing her now, soothing pups with soft eyes and soft words… Bonnie’s throat felt thick.

               The pups calmed, Caroline rose to her feet and looked at Bonnie.  For a moment, the two girls just stood there, watching each other.  Caroline’s expression was hesitant, and she took a step towards Bonnie, but moved no further.

               It was the Empath, that finally crossed the distance between them.  She pulled her friend into a tight embrace, burying her face against Caroline’s neck and closing her eyes as she inhaled a scent that made her think of home.

               “I was so worried,” Caroline said, her arms coming up to clutch at Bonnie as well.  “I thought I would lose you.”

               “I’m okay,” Bonnie replied.  “Really.  I’m fine.”

               “No you aren’t,” Caroline responded, her voice muffled by Bonnie’s hair.  The words made Bonnie let out a choking sob, tears falling down her face – because Caroline was right.  She wasn’t okay.  Not really.

               “I will be,” Bonnie promised.  “Now that I’m with you, I will be okay again.”

               Their reunion was cut off as a low growl sounded behind them.  Caroline immediately broke away from Bonnie, pushing her so that she was with the pups behind her as she looked at Kol.  But the Changeling ignored her, instead glaring into the forest with eyes that glinted amber with his wolf. 

               “Elijah,” Bonnie said with a gasp, grasping onto Caroline’s arm.  “Elijah was with us… he was left behind-”

               A twig snapped in the trees, and Kol leapt forward, only to come up short, as though he had hit a barrier.  Then two men stepped out of the forest, and Bonnie sagged against Caroline when she recognized one of them as Elijah.  The other was also familiar – Ivy Jane’s Vasic.  Behind them prowled a wolf, large and intimidating, and the eyes in its face were a brilliant blue.  It prowled to the corpse of the Psy, and when it came closer, Bonnie saw that its muzzle was covered in blood.  It sniffed at the corpse and then growled, turning that blue gaze to Caroline.

               Caroline stroked a hand over Bonnie’s hair and then disentangled them, stepping to the side.  The wolf walked to her, stroking itself against her legs.  Bonnie watched with curious eyes, and felt a presence at her back.  She looked at Kol, who was watching the wolf with an avid gaze – one that was hungry and longing.

               The wolf was suddenly engulfed with light and Bonnie looked away quickly, a blush on her cheeks, when animal became very naked man.

               “You’re unhurt?” he asked Caroline, and when Bonnie glanced at them out of the corner of her eye, she jolted in surprise when she saw that the Changeling was stroking her friend’s cheek.

               “He was dead before he knew I was here,” Caroline assured him.  There was a flush on her cheeks as well, but when she glanced down briefly, before her eyes darted up again, it was with a raw hunger that Bonnie had only ever seen bonded Psy wear.

               “Good,” was all the man said in reply, pressing a kiss to Caroline’s forehead, before moving onto the pups, kneeling down and letting both of them cuddle close to him.

               “Elijah was taken by surprise,” Vasic said to Caroline then, drawing her gaze away from the Changeling. 

               “I was foolish,” Elijah added, and on anyone else Bonnie would have called his expression chagrined.  “I went foolishly into a situation that I knew was dangerous.”

               Caroline looked at him for a moment, and then much as Bonnie had earlier, she crossed the distance between them, hugging him tightly.  Elijah blinked at her in surprise, his arms hanging limply at his side, but not pushing her away.  The Changeling growled behind them, and Caroline looked back with rolled eyes.

               “He’s important to me, Klaus,” Caroline said. 

               “Nik.” Bonnie looked back at Kol with a slight frown when he said the name.  His gaze was on the other Changeling, but he rested a hand between Bonnie’s shoulder blades, in what she thought might be an attempt to seek comfort.  “Your name… it’s Nik.”

               “Who the hell are you-” The man – Klaus, Nik… whatever his name was – cut off suddenly, his nostrils flaring.  His eyes seemed to almost glow for a moment – the same vivid blue as his wolf’s – and recognition covered his face.  “Kol.”

               Kol’s name was just a breath, but Klaus’ expression was filled with joy.

               “You’re alive.” Klaus took a step towards Kol, his intent to haul the other man into an embrace clear in his expression.  But Kol grew tense, his touch on Bonnie’s back the only thing that kept him from moving away from the other Changeling.  “I… I’m your brother.  You knew my name.  Do you remember anything else?”

               “I’m… I…” Kol appeared to be at a loss, and on an impulse, Bonnie reached up to remove his hand from her back, so she could instead twine their fingers together.  Klaus didn’t know what Kol had been through, the effect that being forced into Silence would have on a Changeling.  Bonnie hoped that being with his family would help Kol recover… but it would be difficult for his sibling to understand how he could pull away from something the wolves would view as necessary.

               “It’s been a long… it’s just been long,” she said, bringing all eyes to her.  Kol’s warm grip on her hand tightened in thanks, and it made something warm bloom in Bonnie’s chest.  She might not have the physical capabilities to protect this brave man… but she could be his emotional compass, at least until he could handle such things on his own.  “Could we possibly get to true safety, before we give explanations?”

               It was the truth, of course – she desperately wanted to feel safe.  But she also hoped it would give Kol the time he needed to get his mind together.

               There would come a day, when he would be thankful for this family reunion.  But that day would take time.

\---

               “Is there anything I can get for you?”

               Caroline found herself squeezing Bonnie’s hand again, as she had at least a dozen times since their arrival at the den.  Bonnie’s Psy companion – Kol – had settled himself in a chair in the corner, and Caroline thought he might be using Bonnie’s space to hide from Klaus.  He looked wrecked, so maybe it was for the best, that he pull himself back together before seeing the other Changelings.

               “I just need sleep for now, Caroline,” Bonnie said, and her eyes were exhausted.  There were shadows there that hadn’t been there before, and Caroline hoped that seeing Ivy Jane would help mitigate some of them.  Vasic had already promised to get his mate, and bring her to her fellow Empath.  “But thank-you.”

               Caroline didn’t say anything.  She just pressed an impulsive kiss to Bonnie’s cheek, because apparently a Caroline without Silence was a Caroline that enjoyed touch, and lots of it.  With another squeeze of her hand and a smile, Caroline stepped out of Bonnie’s room and closed the door behind her.  Then she rested her forehead against the hard surface and squeezed her eyes shut tightly.  Her breath felt shallow, as though she wasn’t able to get enough air, and her palms were sweaty.

               Caroline had never experienced a panic attack while Silent, but she thought she might be now.  Which made no sense.

               The pups were safe.  Bonnie was safe.  Even Elijah was safe.

               Yet still, her lungs felt tight, as though they wouldn’t expand.

               “Love?”

               She spun around to look at Klaus, one of her hands clutching at her chest.  He watched her silence, and then crossed the handful of steps between them, and rested a palm on her shoulder.

               “Breathe, Caroline.”

               “I can’t,” she replied, reaching out with her free hand to clutch the neck of his Henley.  “I _can’t_.”

               “You can,” he replied, and Caroline found herself engulfed in his warmth.  He stood at her back, wrapping his arms around her waist.  The presence of him there – warm and steady – made something inside of her snap into place, and breathing came easier.  “Just like that, Love.  In and out.”

               She closed her eyes and just _breathed_ , letting him give her comfort.  After several moments, she tilted her head back and looked at him.  She still clutched at his shirt, and she loosened her grip and let her arm fall limply to her side.

               “Better?” he asked.

               Caroline gave a small nod and turned around.  His hold on her waist loosened, but didn’t release entirely.  It left them close against each other, chest to chest.  Caroline reached up hesitantly, and stroked her fingers through his blonde curls.  His eyes drifted closed as she began to pet him, and a content growl rumbled in his chest.

               “I am going to kiss you,” she said after a moment, her fingers stilling in his hair.  Klaus’ eyes snapped open at her words, and Caroline leaned in, pressing her lips to his.  Their height difference was slight, so she only had to push up onto her toes slightly in order to do so. 

               She meant for it to be a simple stroke of their lips, but she hadn’t taken into account the effect Klaus had had on her, even when she had been Silent.  Now, without the buffer of her conditioning, she was left with just sensation, and a complete lack of knowledge on how to handle it.  Or maybe she didn’t _want_ to handle it.  Because the other emotions – the grief and the pain and the worry, they were so _hard_.  But this?  The desire he stroked in her… it felt _good_.  It didn’t hurt, except for in good ways. 

               She pushed them back, so that Klaus’ back hit the wall, and deepened the kiss, clutching his hair between her fingers, and tilting her head, to try and get access to lips that were far too kissable. 

               Another growl rumbled in Klaus’ chest, but it wasn’t one of contentment this time.  No, this growl was hungry and feral, and came with a hand at the nape of her neck, fingers delving into her hair so he could tilt her head at the angle he wanted and take over the kiss.  Caroline opened her lips in invitation, and Klaus took full advantage, his tongue sweeping across her lower lip, and then sliding into her mouth to run along her own.

               “We shouldn’t do this here,” he growled out, pulling back from her.  His eyes were alight with the wolf within, and had Caroline been in her right mind, she would have wondered at the level of control it took him, to fight what had to be the beast’s instincts to do as he wished right there.

               But Caroline wasn’t in her right mind, and she didn’t want to stop.  So she tried to pull him back in.  Klaus went at first, kissing her once more, but then pulled away with an angry curse.

               “Dammit, Caroline.  We can’t… not here.  And not while you’re all but drunk on _feeling_.”

               He spoke the words from across the hall, because he had disentangled her from him and moved from her with speed that left Caroline feeling unsteady.  She didn’t want to listen to his words, but though emotion was a heady thing that was all too easy to give into, Caroline had been raised a creature of cold logic, and broken Silence couldn’t take that from her completely.

               “We would need protection,” she said, leaning against the wall and taking a deep breath.  She still felt unsteady, and still very much wanted to kiss him more, but she would allow logic to reign for now.  “And the pups could see us here.  That wouldn’t be appropriate.  How close is your room?”

               It was a bit of a surprise, to realize that she didn’t know.  But they had never been alone in a bedroom before, and so she had never had the opportunity to see the space he called home.

               She found that she very much wanted to.

               “Protection… Caroline, I’m not going to have sex with you.”

               “What?” Caroline felt her brow furrow in confusion.  “Why the hell not?”

               “Caroline, you’re experiencing… these feelings for the first time.  You’re trying to drown your worry over your friend in lust, and I’d rather our first time not be because of anything other than you want me.”

               “You’re serious right now,” Caroline said after a long pause.  Klaus just raised his brows, and Caroline’s hand clenched into fists, her nails cutting into her palms.  “Well, that’s freaking _lovely_.  I’ll be sure to let you know when there are no external emotions messing with me, so that you can feel okay about having sex with me!”

               Caroline spun on her heel and stalked away from him, frustration almost like an ache.  Or maybe that really was an ache – one related directly to the warmth between her legs.  Because Klaus had gotten her hot and bothered, and now she was left not knowing how to deal with it. 

               She had heard rumblings of an “instruction manual,” but all those rumors led back to Judd Lauren, and just the _thought_ of asking her mentor for sex advice made Caroline feel…

               _Mortified_ might be the most accurate term. 

               Then again, she was pretty sure the emotion that had embarrassed heat in her cheeks was already mortification.  She had practically thrown herself at Klaus and…

               And he hadn’t wanted her.

               Desire was such an easy emotion to embrace, but this new feeling… this…

               Caroline stared straight ahead, and had to admit it wasn’t a new feeling.  It was one she had felt her entire life, but with her Conditioning it was easy to push it aside.

               Now the feeling of rejection threatened to consume her.  She had been rejected by her mother, who had chosen death over protecting her own child, by her father, who had preferred to force her into becoming his monstrous mirror… but Klaus?

               God, it hurt so much more coming from Klaus.  It had her clutching her stomach, and her eyes felt uncomfortably wet.  Tears… Bonnie had cried so freely, but any time Caroline might have done the same, the pain of her conditioning had dried her eyes quickly.

               “Love, you can’t just storm away like that,” Klaus informed her, falling into step next to her.  Caroline looked over at him with a scowl.

               “Are you seriously following me right now?” She grasped onto anger, which was far less painful than the rejection. 

               “Love… has anyone ever told you that you’re rather emotional?”

               His words made Caroline halt.  She closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath.  She tried to recall her conditioning, and the way she had once been immune to emotion.  If she could only reach out and grasp those tatters around herself, maybe she could regain some control.

               “Don’t you dare!” Klaus’ voice was a growl, and Caroline opened her eyes in surprise as she was tugged into his arms. 

               “You just said-”

               “I like you emotional, Love.”  He kissed her again, and Caroline thought it was probably embarrassing, the way she melted against him with no argument.  “But we’re still not having sex.”

               “Then you should probably stop kissing me.  It’s… it’s… it’s frustrating!” Her hands clung to his shoulders, and he chuckled into her ear as he simply hugged her against him.

               “Welcome to the world of feeling, Caroline.  Frustration is a common occurrence.”

               “I don’t get why it should be when I’m perfectly willing,” she grumbled, but she had to admit that she was starting to feel so confused.  He was treating her like he was rejecting her.  His hand stroking through her hair didn’t speak of rejection, nor did the soft kisses he pressed to her forehead, her nose, her eyelids… any hint of skin he could find.

               “Ah… but are you ready?”

               His question made Caroline turn completely still in surprise.  She considered his words carefully, turning them over in her mind.  Her body yearned for him, there was no doubt in that… but being ready for whatever it was that came next?

               Caroline knew what the act involved on an intellectual level, but she suspected the reality was far different.

               “We could try,” she mumbled at last, but the both knew it was pure stubbornness that had her saying the words, and he chuckled warmly against her once more.

               “We will… but for now I would very much like to hold you.”

               The feeling of rejection was replaced with one of warmth, and she wondered if this was how the pups felt, when they were in the heart of pack.  This feeling of being utterly cared for and protected, wrapped around someone that wanted nothing more than their happiness.

               The frustration was still there, and it would take time to grow accustomed to it… but Caroline thought she enjoyed being held anyway.

\---

               Elijah sat at a table in the Den’s mess hall.  There was a dark skinned man watching him, though he was pretending to simply be getting a warm drink.

               The Arrow couldn’t blame the wolves for being suspicious.  Elijah wasn’t Caroline, or even Vasic or Aden.  He was an Arrow still caught in Silence – a weapon and a danger to all they loved.

               “You are feeling okay?”

               Elijah didn’t react to Aden taking the seat across from him.  He had been very aware of both his leader and Vasic’s presence.  Vasic silently put an energy drink in front of Elijah, who wasn’t surprised to find that it was warm.  Ivy Jane did that often, saying that the warmth offered comfort.  Vasic had picked the habit up as well.

               “I am mostly unharmed,” Elijah responded to Aden’s query.  “Although my connection to my powers and the Psy Net remains broken.  But if Bonnie’s abilities came back, mine should as well.”

               Aden gave a slow thoughtful nod, his dark eyes focused on Elijah.  The gaze made him want to shift, which made no sense… but Aden had that effect.  He always seemed to know more than he let on, as though he could somehow see to the person beyond the Silence.

               Elijah wasn’t sure he wanted to know who that person was.

               “Learning about Mikael and Finn’s survival must have been hard.”

               “Finn no longer lives… and I doubt Mikael will much longer.  Not after he took the pups.”  It had been a foolish act on Mikael’s part, and one that told Elijah the man wasn’t as pristine in his Silence as he would like.  Any intelligent Psy would have known to stay far, far away from the pups.  “The Changeling he held… Kol?  He was damaged.”

               “The Healer is aware.  She will help him. As will Miss Bennet.”

               Elijah gave another nod.  He didn’t feel guilt, of course, but he did feel a certain… responsibility for Kol.  After all, Elijah may not have been party to his abduction, but it had been his father to commit it.  And the ties of blood ran deep. 

               But with Bonnie at his side, Kol would heal.  Elijah had witnessed her extraordinary ability to reach through Silence and fractures himself.

               “I hate to break up this Psy part” – Elijah blinked in surprise as a woman took the seat next to Aden across the table from him.  She had wild dark hair, and equally dark eyes that glinted with wicked promise.  A smirk curved her lips, and there was something familiar about her impish expression – “but the boss man wants me to find out what you know.  Now, I want to get back to my sister, so can you talk fast, Handsome?”

               Elijah blinked at the woman, feeling rather nonplussed by her.  His experience with females mostly involved other Arrows like Zaira and Caroline who were just as cold as Elijah himself, or else the Empaths, who had always made him wish to protect them.  But this woman?  This woman with the fire in her eyes was a new experience.

               “I just heard you talking; don’t go all Silent on me now.”

               “I do not know what you wish me to tell you,” Elijah admitted after a moment.  “Mikael is the one behind this.  I will take care of it, once my powers have returned.”

               It was his duty; after all, he hadn’t told Aden about Mikael’s survival, and young had nearly been hurt because of that.

               “Isn’t that guy your dad?” the woman’s eyes narrowed.  “You’re rather cold blooded, talking about murdering your family.”

               “The Squad is my family,” Elijah replied, the words that had become their new creed coming to his lips automatically.  The next ones seemed to come just as easily.  “Caroline is my family.”

               The woman watched him with narrowed eyes, tapping well-manicured fingernails on the table top.

               “I believe that,” she said at last.  “And I believe you’re not a bad guy, because my sister isn’t the trusting kind, but she was asking about you with stars in her eyes.  But I also think you’re holding something back.”

               Elijah’s expression remained entirely neutral.  He hadn’t told Aden or Vasic about Bill Forbes, nor had he told Caroline.  He would request Bonnie not do so either.  With her Silence gone, Caroline  was in an emotionally unstable place, and Elijah didn’t wish to see her hurt by this news.

               He would keep it secret, and take care of Bill himself – just as he would Mikael.

               “Keep your secrets for now,” the woman said at last.  “But secrets don’t get kept long around me.”

               “You are Nadia’s sister,” Elijah said when she got to her feet and would have walked away.  He didn’t explore the reasoning behind his words, but for some reason he didn’t wish her to leave quite yet.  “She is okay?”

               “Yes,” the woman replied after a long moment, where she surveyed him closely.  “Nadia is fine.  You should visit her tomorrow” – she started to walk away, and then paused once more – “I’m Katherine.”

               Elijah watched her walk away, not able to take his eyes away from her until she had left room entirely.  Then he looked at his comrades.  Neither of their faces gave away their thoughts, but there was a matching glint in their eyes, one that spoke of amusement.

               “Why do you look at me?” Elijah asked.

               Vasic and Aden glanced at each other, one of their moments of silent communication passing between them.

               “Have you heard about Judd’s instruction manual?” Vasic asked at last.


	12. Eleven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been a while... but I'm finally updating! I hope you enjoy!

Klaus slowly became aware of the world around him, starting with an itch on the tip of his nose.  He tried to move his arm, so he could scratch it, only to find that a weight was holding the limb in place.

               He opened his eyes as Caroline’s scent surrounded him, and looked down to see her curled into his side.  They were both still fully dressed – had fallen asleep while talking – and her fingers clutched at his Henley, holding onto him in her sleep.

               The wolf under his skin growled in pleasure, pleased with this proof that she trusted him.  But both man and beast worried, because though they knew, with a bone deep certainty, that she was their mate… the bond had yet to snap in place.

               Hell, they hadn’t even started the mating dance yet, and that put Klaus on edge more than anything.  It might not be the full bond, but at least it would be a sign that she had accepted him on some level.

               He ran a hand over her hair, and she nuzzled closer to him, making a tiny purring sound, and though it wasn’t the mating dance… he had to acknowledge that they had come so very far since the beginning, when she had held a scalpel to her own throat rather than accept his help.

               “You’re mine,” he murmured to her.  “Perhaps the mating dance hasn’t begun yet… but you’re mine.”

               As though she heard his fervent declaration, she let out a soft mumble and slowly blinked her eyes open.  Klaus’ hand ran down her hair, then along her cheek as she looked up at him. 

               “I fell asleep,” she noted quietly, her voice just above a whisper, as though afraid that speaking any louder might ruin the moment.  “What time is it?”

               “Morning,” Klaus replied simply, because he hadn’t bothered to look at the clock.  But the internal alarm that had served him well over the years of living in the den said it wasn’t particularly late.  So rather than looking at the time, he bent down to brush his lips over hers.

               “You said we weren’t having sex,” Caroline mumbled against his lips, and he had to grin at the displeasure ripe in her voice as she said it.

               “We’re not,” Klaus replied, though he rolled them, so that she was on her back, and he was braced over her.  “But there are plenty of things we can do, without having sex, Love.”

               “Like what?” Caroline asked, her eyes lighting with interest.  She ran her hands down his arms, her gaze avid as his muscles flexed under her touch. 

               “It’s called snogging, Caroline,” Klaus relied.  She blinked up at him, and he thought she looked almost painfully innocent, with her halo of blonde hair and blue eyes.

               “Snog-”

               He cut off her question by pressing his lips to hers.  It wasn’t the sweet brush of before.  Instead, he nibbled at her bottom lip, teasing until it separated from the top on a soft gasp.  Then he allowed his tongue to entwine with hers.  He teased and coerced until she clung to his shoulders, her lips and tongue mimicking the motions of his own.

               “Snogging,” Klaus said, somewhat breathless, pulling away.  Caroline’s breath was somewhat ragged, her lips red and swollen from his own.

               “Hmmm,” Caroline hummed thoughtfully and released her grip on his shoulders.  Klaus would have complained about the loss of contact, except that her hands went down almost immediately and found their way under his shirt, to his stomach.  He gave a sharp inhale at the contact, and Caroline looked entirely too pleased with herself over the reaction.  “You should take this off.”

               His cock was already starting to harden, just from the kisses.  Klaus knew he should probably stop this now, because it was just going to turn into a frustration that left him grumpy, and Caroline irate.  But he couldn’t resist the touch of her hands, instead let her push the fabric up, until he tugged it over his head and tossed it aside.  When he looked back down at her, her gaze was focused on his chest. Her touch was soft as she traced the muscles of his chest and abs.

               “I’m not sure what to do next,” she admitted at last, looking up at him. 

               “Touch me,” he replied, the words a fervent demand that came from both wolf and man, all of him hungry for her touch.  It started gentle at first – feather light touches against his chest and stomach.  When his response was to let his eyes drift to half-mast and let out a pleased growl, those touches became more confident.  She stroked his muscles, and then her mouth joined in.  He clutched at the bed spread, as she pressed kisses to his pectorals, and then up to his neck.  She pressed a hand to his chest, and Klaus let her push him off of her, and then onto his own back.

               She straddled his waist, and looked down, her hands pressed to his chest as she considered him from this new position.

               “I want…” Caroline’s throat worked as she swallowed, her eyes darting all around him as she tried to find her next words.  “I want… everything.”

               The last word was a sigh, and in answer, Klaus’ wolf let out a howl of victory as the rush of the mating dance suddenly raced through him, making his claws slice into the bed.  Klaus fought back a possessive snarl, but he couldn’t resist tugging her down into a hungry, devouring kiss.  It wasn’t the sort of kiss he should be giving a Psy that was far too new to emotion, but Caroline didn’t respond with fear.  She buried her fingers in his hair, and kissed him back just as fiercely.

               “You can have it,” he told her when they broke apart.  They remained nose to nose, their breath mingling with each other.  “Everything I am, it’s yours.”

               Caroline’s shy answering smile meant that Klaus simply had to kiss her again.

\---

               “We have to tell her.”

               Elijah raised a brow at Bonnie as she burst into his room after a perfunctory knock on the door.  The Changeling – Kol – was on her heels.  There were dark circles under his eyes, and his shoulders were hunched, as though he thought he could somehow hide from the Changelings that were his family, but that he didn’t truly know, by simply appearing small enough.

               Elijah set aside the tablet that Vasic had given him before both he and Aden had returned to the Arrow’s valley.  They were a simple phone call away, but all three of them had agreed that an overload of Psy would cause tensions to rise with the Changelings.  They all knew that Bonnie needed to be close to Caroline, and Elijah had volunteered to remain and keep an eye on them, none of them sure how her experiences would affect Bonnie, or if breaking Silence would have an adverse effect on Caroline.

               He had also remained because he had no intention of allowing anyone else to be harmed by William Forbes, least of all the man’s daughter.

               “Telling Caroline that, not only is her father alive, but he also helped to kidnap her emotional anchor would do more harm than good.  She’s unstable, with her Silence broken.  She’ll need to learn control again, Bonnie.  By the time she does so, I’ll have taken care of the issue.  So what purpose would her knowing serve?”

               “It’s not about purpose, Elijah,” Bonnie replied, crossing her arms, her head taking on a stubborn tilt.  “This is her father.  Caroline has a right to know that he’s still alive… to have a say in what happens to him!”

               “He is an Arrow that left the Squad.  Death is his only option.”

               “Judd Lauren left-”

               “Judd Lauren had a connection to his family that survived even an Arrow’s conditioning.  He lives because Aden could respect that his loyalty was never primarily to the Squad… and because having such a connection within the SnowDancer hierarchy gives the Squad vital and useful connections.  William Forbes allied himself with an extremist group that clearly wants to target the empaths.  It’s an entirely different scenario.”

               Elijah looked back at the screen of his tablet and tilted his head as he read the description of a rather… he wasn’t sure the body was actually supposed to bend as this described.  He nearly tossed the tablet aside in distaste, when he paused, the thought of a woman with a head of dark hair doing such…

               He dropped the tablet away from him, as though burned by its surface.  He felt rattled, which in itself was a foreign experience.  Added to the idea that he could possibly be lusting after a RiverForest Lieutenant was almost unimaginable, but there was no mistaking that he had been imagining Katherine Pierce when reading that description.

               “Are you okay?” Elijah blinked in surprise when he realized that Bonnie had stepped closer and placed a hand softly on his shoulder.  Kol watched them closely, something in his eyes telling Elijah that his wolf lurked close to the surface, ready to attack at even the suspicion that Elijah meant Bonnie any harm.

               “I am fine.  I just read something…” disturbing was what he wanted to say, except Elijah wasn’t inclined towards falsehoods, and disturbing wasn’t quite accurate.   “It’s nothing.  Just – do not tell Caroline, Bonnie.  Not yet.  Let her grow accustomed to emotion.  And let her… let her enjoy the company, of her Alpha.  Many of the Arrows her age are still having difficulty.  Seeing Caroline happily settled, it would do great things for them.”

               Elijah had managed to hit on the perfect argument, he could tell by the way Bonnie softened at the mention of the Arrows the same age as her.  They had all graduated to full Silence, but hadn’t lived in it for as long as the elders.  It left them in a situation of wanting to embrace emotion, but having no idea how, and like many of the Es, Bonnie was determined to see those young adults thrive.

               “Fine… but don’t do this alone, Elijah.  That man…” Bonnie shivered, and in an instant, Kol was there, pulling her into his chest, nuzzling his nose into her hair.  Bonnie seemed to receive strength from his touch, and reached up to stroke his hand.  “William Forbes is dangerous.  And Caroline would never forgive me, or herself, if you were hurt because you went after him alone.”

               Elijah planned to do exactly that, of course.  Bill would know he was being hunted, and a team would be far too easily evaded.  But Elijah didn’t wish Bonnie to fret, so he gave his head a slight bow.

               “I’ll check in with you regularly, and return every evening.  Should I miss a time, you may seek assistance.”

               Bonnie seemed to realize that was the best she would get, because she just sighed and shook her head.

               “Fine.”

\---

               Caroline had always allowed Bonnie to touch her more than any other, but it was a testament to how being in such close contact with Changelings had changed her, that when Bonnie took a seat next to her and rested her head on Caroline’s shoulder, her only response was to wrap her arm around her in a one armed hug.

               It felt good.  Perhaps not entirely natural – not yet – but still good.

               “You’re glowing,” Bonnie noted, straightening slightly.  Caroline felt her cheeks flush at the words.  She and Klaus had parted ways half an hour earlier.  He needed to meet with his Lieutenants to discuss who would go with Elijah to search the location where they had been kept.  Caroline had made him promise that she would be allowed to go as well, and though Klaus clearly hadn’t wanted to agree, he hadn’t been able to deny that Caroline might be needed, should any Psy still remain.

               He had left her with another kiss, and Caroline very much hadn’t wanted him to go.

               “She smells like him,” Kol spoke up, his voice a bit hoarse, as though he hadn’t said much since his arrival the previous night.  “The Alpha… my… my brother.”

               Caroline smiled at him, this Changeling whose wolf was clearly riding him, and who had suffered terrible things for most of his life.

               “They’re eager to get to know you again,” she told him softly.  “Especially Rebekah.  She threw a fit, when Klaus wouldn’t let her go and drag you to stay with her family while you’re here.”

               Kol eyed Caroline for a long moment, and then finally a smile curved his lips.  It was a bit cheeky, and Caroline thought that, had he been allowed to grow with the pack, Kol would have likely been a hellion.

               It wasn’t too late, though.  There was a lot of Klaus in that smile, and Klaus was stubborn… and the way Kol gravitated around Bonnie, the way she seemed to always know where he was… well, having an E as kind as Bonnie on his side would only help him to recover.

               “I’m not like them,” Kol admitted solemnly.  “Mikael… broke pieces of me.”

               It couldn’t have been an easy admission for Kol.  The way he hovered protectively over Bonnie said, clearly, that Kol would be a dominant, and while dominants might openly show their adoration for their mate to the world, showing weakness?

               Not so much.

               “Pieces of me are broken too,” Caroline admitted.  Bonnie tensed next to her, because she hated when the Arrows claimed to be broken, but Caroline simply continued to speak.  “But… I think that it’s possible to put them back together.”  She thought of Klaus, of the way he made her feel, and of Henrik and the Arrow young, and how much she wanted to be able to show them affection as the Changelings did.  “I want to put them back together.”

               “I want to, too,” Kol replied softly.  Caroline felt her lips curve into a smile at the admittance, and as much as she liked the wolves of RiverForest, Kol might be the first Changeling she truly understood.

               The moment was interrupted by a sharp knock on the door.  Bonnie called out for entrance, and Elijah opened it quietly.  He looked between the three occupants of the room, his gaze lingering on Caroline for a moment before falling to Bonnie, something in his eyes making Caroline’s spine stiffen with suspicion.

               “Your Alpha  wants you to  join us  and his Lieutenants,” he said before Caroline could question what had caused  that look.  Elijah’s expression was carefully bland, but something in his voice said he wasn’t entirely pleased.  “He said you’re to help with hunting down the group that took us.”

               “You’re not happy with that,” Caroline observed, her brow furrowing.  “You’ve always trusted me at your back before.”

               “You’re… new to emotion.  It may cloud your judgement.”

               “You’ve never accused Vasic or Zaira or Aden of clouded judgement,” Caroline snapped back. 

               “None of their broken Silences have been so… obvious.”

               Caroline recoiled from Elijah’s softly spoken words – words said in such a pragmatic fashion that she couldn’t really call them an insult.  A quick retort was on the tip of her tongue, but such a response would simply prove Elijah’s point.

               She closed her eyes, fully prepared to gather the shards of her shattered Silence and wrap them around her mind. 

               I want to put them back together.

               Her own words echoed in her mind, and her eyes snapped open.  She looked at Elijah, at his carefully blank expression… and he didn’t quite meet her gaze.

Did you recognize anyone in the group besides your father and brother?”

               Caroline might have emphasized the words, though she knew it was likely petty of her, to remind Elijah of his relationship to his kidnappers, but his distrust rankled, and Caroline wanted to get a reaction out of him.  Elijah didn’t appear to notice her pettiness – or if he did, he simply chose to ignore it.  He did, however, remain silent long enough that something felt off.

               “No,” he said at last, the words coming just a beat too late.  He looked away from her, focusing his gaze away from her, his expression showing nothing… yet it had taken him just that moment longer than it should have to answer.

               “You’re lying to me.”

               He had tried to turn her broken Silence against her, had nearly succeeded, and it was all because he was lying.

               “You’re overwrought, Caroline,” Elijah said, and Caroline thought she could understand why the Changelings found Silence to be so frustrating.  “What reason would I have to lie?”

               “That’s what I want to know.” She stepped forward, not caring that she entered into Elijah’s personal space.  She had observed Rebekah using such a method of intimidation before, to great effect.  Of course, that had been with other Changelings.  Elijah was very much the Silent Psy, so his response was to observe her with what Caroline could only describe as polite blankness.  “What are you hiding from me?”

               A movement to the side had Caroline’s gaze snapping around to look at Bonnie.  Bonnie, who also avoided her gaze, except that she wasn’t Silent like Elijah, so her discomfort was written clearly across her face. 

               “What is going on?” Caroline demanded.

               Bonnie looked at Elijah, who remained expressionless.  Caroline’s fingers curled into fists, and the muscles in her jaw clenched.  She trusted these two, more than anyone else, yet apparently that trust wasn’t reciprocated.

               “One of the Psy working for my father was named William Forbes.”

               It was Kol that spoke, and at first Caroline was sure she had heard him wrong. 

               William Forbes was dead.   William Forbes was a horrible, horrible nightmare, but just a nightmare.

               “That’s impossible,” Caroline whispered, her voice hoarse.  She stepped backwards – stumbled really – until her back hit the wall.  “That’s… he’s dead.”

               She heard Bonnie say her name, but whatever else her friend said was lost on Caroline.  Instead, all she heard was white noise.  She felt like that child again, the one covered in blood and wanting to throw up, except that would be weakness, and Bill never allowed weakness.  She felt helpless and alone, and like she was twelve again.

               Except… she wasn’t alone.  Not anymore.

               She wasn’t aware that she had reached out for him, searching for the one presence she knew would give her the strength she needed.  Not until the bond had snapped in place, a granite connection that connected her to Klaus.

               He surrounded her, filled her mind, and she could stand straight again, her knees no longer weak.  She turned down the hall automatically, knowing he would be there, even before he appeared.  Even though Bonnie, Kol and Elijah were right there, all Caroline was aware of was Klaus.

               “My father is alive,” she said simply, knowing he would understand.  Because the bond worked both ways, and he would feel what that meant, how terrified it left her.  Klaus tugged her into his embrace, and she buried her face in his neck.

               “We’ll figure it out,” he promised.  “Together, we’ll figure it out.  He won’t hurt you Caroline. I promise.”      

               Caroline clung to him, and let his strength run down the bond, steeling her spine and fighting back the terror that wanted to strangle her.

               Bill didn’t have the power to destroy her, not anymore.  But destroying him?  That was something she could do.

\---

               Klaus felt Caroline relax against him, the terror that had threatened to strangle him in the first brief seconds after the bond had snapped into place draining away.  It was replaced with a determination whose cause Klaus couldn’t guess.

               Then she pulled back from him, and their gazes met, and the determination was replaced as well, this time by a deep, burning hunger whose cause Klaus knew very well.

               He felt the same hunger for her, after all.

               “We’re mates,” she said, something like awe lighting her eyes as she clutched the back of his neck, her fingers tugging lightly on the fine strands of hair that hung there.

               “You sound surprised, Love.  I’ve been telling you that you’re my mate since the start.”

               And now they were bonded, a choice she had made.  Which meant that Klaus no longer had any reason to hold back.  He claimed her lips with his, in a hungry, consuming kiss.  She clung to him tighter, and Klaus didn’t even realize that he had walked her backwards, until he was resting one hand on the wall, the other clutching her hip and holding her tight against his body.

               There had been people with her.  Somewhere in the back of Klaus’ mind he recalled that.  Bonnie, and his brother, and that damn Psy assassin that Caroline had hugged too tightly, who had deadened eyes, though he lacked the metallic scent of the truly Silent Psy.  He pulled back from her and looked around, still feeling mostly dazed and drugged off her kiss.

               “Bonnie,” Caroline gasped out, her gaze darting  around.  No one was there, but Klaus could scent Katherine and Enzo, as though they had just been there.

               “Taken off by my Lieutenants,” he said, before dipping his head down to kiss her again.

               “I love your Lieutenants,” Caroline  said, scraping her teeth against his jaw.  “Remind me to bake  something for them, that’s how much I love them.”

               “You bake?” Klaus growled, not at all  happy with the thought of her doing so for  his lieutenants before he baked him something.  But then she bit down on his neck, blunt teeth not breaking skin, but causing a delicious sting, and he decided they could discuss baking later.  “My room.”

               His hands fell to her ass, and when he lifted, Caroline just gave a jump, wrapping her legs around his waist.  Klaus thanked whatever power it was watching over them, that they weren’t far from his rooms.

               From their rooms.

               They made it there, miraculously without encountering any of the far too curious pups, and Klaus’ wolf finally calmed some, when he removed both their shirts and  tumbled them onto the bed, so they could lie skin to skin. The bra she wore was bright and pretty, and probably not typical Arrow stock. 

               “We have a meeting,” Caroline said, rolling so that she could rest her arms on his chest.  “I’m not sure-”

               “They’ll understand,” Klaus assured her.  “Enzo was mid-patrol  when Rebekah let the bond occur, and Katherine merely covered for him.”  He tugged her down so he could run his teeth along her neck, his wolf luxuriating in the salt of skin.  “They’ll understand.”

               “Good,” Caroline replied, pulling away even when Klaus growled low and angry in his throat.  She attacked his belt and jeans with clumsy hands, her face flush with desire.  “Because I really want to have sex now.”

               Had it been jut that morning that he had refused to do just that with her?  Instead working them both into such a state of frustration that his wolf had become an irritable itch beneath his skin?

               Well, that had been pre-mating bond.  Klaus lifted his hips and allowed Caroline to pull his jeans off.  He hadn’t bothered with underwear, and when Caroline looked at his cock, her expression was a mix of desire and trepidation.

               He watched her avidly, and knew his wolf must be showing in his eyes.  Both the man and the beast wanted to see what their mate would do next.  Caroline didn’t let them down, when she finally reached out and stroked her palm along his length.

               Klaus’ intentions had been to take it slow.  To let her explore him as much as she needed.  But he hadn’t counted on the hunger that would run both ways along the mating bond, somehow making his need for her impossibly more.

               He spun them around, and Caroline let out a surprised yelp.  But that surprise didn’t last long when Klaus unbuttoned her jeans.  She lifted her hips, just as he had, and Klaus pulled them away impatiently, leaving  her in only her underwear.

               “Hell,” he murmured, before leaning down and pressing kisses over the swell of her breasts over the bra cups.  She had breasts that deserved to be worshipped.  And he would… although today he knew he wouldn’t have the patience.

               “Hey!” Caroline snarled as Klaus shredded the bra easily, tossing the ruined shreds to the side.  “Bonnie got me those!  They were expensive… I think…”

               “I’ll get you more,” Klaus promised, and then he shredded her panties as well, evoking another growl.  “Ones that fasten in the front.  We’ll enjoy them.”

               Before Caroline could answer, Klaus was  kissing her again.  He kept enough space between them so he could reach up and cup her breasts with his hands.  He stroked them, and ran his thumbs in circles around her nipples.  They hardened under his ministrations and Caroline shivered beneath him.

               “Klaus,” she gasped out, and there was still a growl in her voice, but this time it was from pure desire.  “I want… I need…”

               “You need to be ready,” Klaus replied, and he began to kiss his way down her body.  When he got to where he wanted, where the musk of her desire was so strong it nearly made Klaus’ eyes roll, he hefted her legs over his shoulders.  “Hold on, Love.”

               Before she could ask him why – and he knew she would have – Klaus ran his tongue right over her clit, making Caroline  buck her hips into his face.  Grinning against her, Klaus held her hips  in place and proceeded to suck, nibble, and lick with a single-minded determination that had Caroline pleading to a God that Klaus knew she didn’t believe in – Psy never did believe in religion, after all.

               “Please,” she moaned,  trying to writhe in his grasp.  “God Klaus… I need you!”

               Finally deciding that her pleas were desperate enough, Klaus rose  again and twined their fingers  together.

               “I love you, Caroline,” he murmured against her ear, and Caroline’s entire body froze.  He pulled back to look into her surprise widened eyes, and thrust himself into her.  Caroline let  out a gasp, her eyes drifting shut, as  she moved her hips in time with his.  “Look at me, Love.”

               It took two more repeats of the words before  her eyes finally opened again, her gaze meeting his dazedly.  Klaus imagined his expression was much the same.  But he had found heaven here, in his little  mate’s arms, inside her body, and he would be damned if he looked away for a second of it.

               He wasn’t sure how long they moved for – probably far shorter than he would ever care to admit – but Caroline finally dug her blunt nails into his back, hard enough he actually let out a his, and Klaus let himself fall over with her, his release an inferno that left him gasping for breath, feeling weak next to him.

               “Wow,” Caroline said after a long while.  Klaus had wrapped an arm around her, pulling her in tight against him, despite the sweat that slicked both their bodies.  “That was… you know, if the Psy realized how relaxed sex made them, I bet they’d still do it.  Really, it’s good for the body and the mind.  That they stopped utilizing it is rather illogical.”

               Klaus was still breathless as he laughed at that observation, and then leaned down to pepper kisses across her face.  When he pulled back, Caroline grinned up at him, a smile that lit her whole face, and completely transformed her from the cold, calculating Psy he had first met.

               “We should probably have that meeting at some point,” she pointed out, wriggling out of Klaus’ hold to sit up.  When she did, her eyes widened. “Oh… no.”

               Frowning, Klaus sat up next to her, looking around as well. He had to bite back a laugh, although the quick frown Caroline threw at him told him he didn’t manage to muffle it as much as he would have liked.  But it wasn’t his fault.

               The room around them was trashed.

               Everything but the bed had been thrown across the room, or utterly destroyed.  Several of his shirts lie on the floor, covered in wood chips that Klaus was pretty sure had once been his armoire door.  The armoire itself had moved several feet from where it had once stood and was stilted back, resting against the wall.

               “I can’t do this every time we have sex,” Caroline said, her expression chagrinned.  “And… well…  we’re not going to stop having sex!”

               “I would certainly hope not,” Klaus muttered, but Caroline ignored him.

               “I should talk to Judd… or Vasic.  I mean, they’re both Tks.  And I know they won’t like it, because they’re sort of weird about this stuff with anyone that’s not, you know, old.  But they’ll have to be okay with it!  Because this isn’t happening!” Klaus felt utterly befuddled as Caroline climbed out of bed with that declaration and began to clean up the mess.

               “What are you doing, Caroline?” he asked, feeling rather petulant.  There she was across the room, and the wolf wanted – no, the wolf demanded, that she pet him in the afterglow of their spectacular sex.

               “Cleaning,” she replied, her voice holding the same note Rebekah’s always did whenever he heard something she deemed foolish.

               “That’s nice, but I wasn’t done with you.”

               “Did you see this mess?” Caroline demanded, turning to him and looking absolutely spectacular, with her hands on her hips and a scowl on her lips, gloriously naked.  “We can’t have sex again right now.  This will happen.”

               She turned away, and Klaus realized that she was babbling again.  Babbling and cleaning, and there was a nervous tremor in the mating bond.  Klaus climbed out of the bed and, ignoring her surprised shriek, tossed her over his shoulder and carried her back.  The wolf growled in contentment when she was cuddled against him once more.

               “What’s wrong, Caroline?” Klaus asked, nuzzling his nose into her neck.

               “You love me,” she replied softly.  Klaus paused for a moment, then made a noise of agreement and began to nuzzle again.  “You love me, and I love you too.  And that means we have something to lose.”

               She stopped his nuzzling so she could cup his cheek and look into his eyes.

               “My father… Klaus, if I have something to lose, William Forbes is going to want to take it from me.”

               She was still terrified of her father, this mate of his.  A terror that ran back years. It was the sort of terror that wasn’t easy to let go of.  Klaus knew, because even now, he still had nightmares of losing  his parents.  And here was Caroline, who had lost her parents, but felt nothing but relief over that loss, because they had caused her such pain.

               And now one of them was back.

               “He can try to take me away,” Klaus told her.  “But he won’t succeed.  I promise you Caroline, now that I’ve found you; I plan on leading a long, long life with you.”

               “My father is evil, Klaus,” Caroline said. 

               His first instinct was to say that they would still beat him.  But a thrum along the mating  bond, on that said this wasn’t simply a childhood fear, made him pause.

               “Okay,” he said at last.  “Tell me about him.”

               Caroline let him spoon her against his body, and stroke his fingers through her hair.  Just when he thought she might fall asleep, she spoke.

               “The first time I remember my father making me kill someone, I was eight years old.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... that happened. Klaus and Caroline are mated now. And next chapter is going to be story time (and hopefully some plot progression).


End file.
